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Cattle Registry Associations 

American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association, 
Chas. Gray, Secretary, 

Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111. 

American Galloway Breeders' Association, 
R. W. Brown, Secretary, 
Carrollton, Mo. 

American Hereford Breeders' Association, 
R. J. Kinzer, Secretary, 
Kansas City, Mo. 

American Polled Shorthorn Breeders' Association. 

J. W. Martz, Secretary, 
Greenville, Ohio. 

American Polled Hereford Breeders' Association, 
B. O. Gammon, Secretary, 
Des Moines, Iowa. 

Red Polled Cattle Club of America, 
H. A. Martin, Secretary, 
Richland Center, Wis. 

American Shorthorn Breeders' Association, 
F. W. Harding, Secretary, 

Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111. 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF 
CATTLE RAISING 



By EDWARD N. WENTWORTH 

ARMOUR'S BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 
AND ECONOMICS 

Assisted by V. H. MUNNECKE 

MANAGER ARMOUR AND COMPANY'S DRESSED 
BEEF DEPARTMENT 

and by JAMES BROWN 

IN CHARGE OF CATTLE BUYING FOR 
ARMOUR AND COMPANY 




ARMOUR'S BUREAU OF 
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND ECONOMICS 

R. J. H. De LOACH. Director 
UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO 

iqzo 



REQ. NO. 462. S53 



^<s^ 



Copyright, iqio. Armour and Company 



First Edition. 
June. iqio. 



Table- of Contents 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, by James Brown 6 

THE FUNCTION OF CATTLE 9 

Position of Cattle in the System of Farming q 

Origin and Kinds of Cattle ; . . . . 9 

CATTLE BREEDS 1 1 

Breed Qualifications 11 

The Purebred Animal 11 

How the Purebred Developed 12 

The Pedigree 13 

CATTLE BREEDING " 15 

How Cattle Are Improved 15 

Grading Up Beef Cattle 15 

The Relative Influence of Sire and Dam 17 

The Proportion of Purebred Cattle 17 

Community Breeding 18 

The Distribution of the Breeds 19 

THE PRODUCTION OF BEEF CATTLE 20 

Foundation Blood for Beef Production 20 

The Problems of the Range Cattle Breeder 20 

Buying Feeders 21 

Feeding Equipment 21 

Some Cattle Rations 23 

Growing the Calf 25 

The Advantage of Young Cattle 27 

Essentials of a Complete Ration 28 



PAGE 

Silage iq 

Requisites of a Good Silo 30 

Silo Capacities .« 30 

MANAGEMENT OF THE BEEF HERD 32 

Three Types of Cattle Farming 32 

The Maintenance of the Breeding Herd 33 

The Pasture 34 

The Contents of the Hay Stack 34 

Sanitation on the Farm 36 

Cattle Diseases 37 

The Cow and Her Calf 41 

Gestation Table 41 

THE CATTLE INDUSTRY. 43 

The United States' Position in Beef Production. ... 43 

The American Beef Export Trade 44 

Relation of Export Trade to Cattle Production 44 

CATTLE PRICES 46 

The Relation of the Market to the Feeding Business . 46 

Why Markets Fluctuate 47 

The Two Classes of Price Fluctuations 47 

Seasonal Variations in Price 48 

The Problem of Marketing Beef in All Seasons 4Q 

Methods of Reaching the Most Favorable Markets . . 4q 

The Effect of Supply and Demand on Hoof Prices . . $0 

THE BEEF CARCASS 5^ 

The Relative Value of Carcass Cuts 5^ 

Factors in Carcass Values 53 

The Relation of Carcass Price to Hoof Price 54 



PAGE 

MARKET CLASSES OF CATTLE 56 

How Cattle Are Classified 5^ 

How Cattle Are Graded ^7 

Characteristics of Different Grades and Classes of 

Beef Cattle and Butcher Stock 58 

Grades and Classes of Feeders and Stockers 5q 

CATTLE TYPES 61 

How Type Is Determined 61 

Characteristics of the Standard Types of Beef Steer . . bi 

Dressing Percent ^2 

MARKETING CATTLE 64 

Preparations for Shipping 64 

Shipping Counsel ^4 

Handling Cattle at the Market 66 

Slaughtering Cattle 67 

Byproducts 6q 

REFERENCES 71 



Introduction 



THE growing tendency among cattle feeders is to regard quality 
and finish in cattle as superfluous, due to the narrowing margin 
in price between the poorest kinds of cattle that reach the market 
and those of best grade. The majority of feeders can remember when 
such animals as canner cows had no value with the packer or retail 
butcher, and the increasing uses which have been found for them, 
sufficient to give quotable prices from day to day, have been inter- 
preted by these feeders to mean that quality no longer has the value 
it once enjoyed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Quality 
cattle will always be properly appraised, because they produce the 
class of meat that is easiest to sell, requiring a minimum of effort 
on the part of the ultimate salesman. 

From year to year the standards as to market types and classes 
are changing, based on the changing demands of the consumer. 
The cattle feeder usually learns of these changes when he sells, and 
occasionally feels that the market asks for any kind of cattle other 
than what he brings. The chief difficulty in meeting exactly the 
market demands, lies in the fact that the standards of cattle of one 
or two decades ago still persist in the minds of many feeders and are 
perpetuated by the types of steers recognized by the m.ajority of 
judges in the tat stock shows. Whether or not the feeder intends 
to do so, he carries in his mind the standard of perfection established 
by the heavy, richly finished bullocks popular twenty years ago, and 
he interprets the trimmer killing characteristics which modern 
cattle show, coupled with lesser size, as distinct steps backward. 

The chief factor in bringing about the change in type has been the 
change in retail demand. The public, while more fastidious as to 
the cuts of beef it consumes, does not eat as much meat as it did 
formerly, and will not tolerate the waste in cuts that the rich steaks 
and roasts of a half century ago possessed. The modifications in 
market standards are based on these two simple facts, and the trade 
must educate itself to the idea. The retailer has been most sensitive 
to this change in demand, but the reaction on the packer has been 
so direct that he has been forced to translate immediately the 
desires of the consumer into a type of cattle suitable for the produc- 
tion of the best selling cuts. The principal factors that have caused 



the change are the increase in the population of cities coupled with 
the reduced ratio of producers ; the inroads on the family purse made 
by luxuries, which have restricted the percentage spent on necessi- 
ties; and the reduced size of families which has permitted groceries 
with small meat shops vending pound to two-pound cuts to make 
deep inroads into the business of the specialized butcher. 

The demand for heavy cattle varies little throughout the year. 
The markets of the big cities, principally New York, Chicago, 
Philadelphia and Boston, supply the principal trade, the sales being 
largely to hotels and clubs that have a standard demand for certain 
cuts the year around. This natural demand for heavy finished cattle 
takes only about 1 5 per cent of the cattle on the market, their live 
weight being 1300 pounds and up, and their carcasses making about 
750 pounds of beef and up. In order that prices for this class of 
cattle remain steady and hold the same relative relation to other 
classes of cattle, the supply must be regular as a few too many can 
readily glut the market. Unfortunately, it is difficult to finish 
cattle of this sort at all seasons of the year ; few of them coming on the 
market in the period from August ist to February ist excepting 
cattle finished for shows and for the Christmas trade. From 
February on there is usually a sufficiency of this class of cattle, while 
late March and April may find a few too many with consequent 
drops in price. On the other hand, in times of scarcity of heavy 
cattle, buyers having orders for this class of stock make competition 
so lively that steers weighing 1400 pounds or up which will satisfy 
their trade, often bring $1 to $2 above their real value as compared 
to smaller cattle of the same grade. A judgment of values based 
on the price of this class of cattle either in times of scarcity or 
surplus, is bound to be misleading to the average feeder. 

The profit in beef production in the future will increasingly lie 
in qualiDy' stock. Early maturity and quick money turn-overs are 
certain to be the keynotes of future meat production, due to high 
land and feed values. Cold blooded stock will never utilize feed 
for fattening and finishing until the animals are well grown, three 
years old or over, while breeders and feeders will need to have their 
money back out of their animals by the time they are two years old, 
unless the cattle are range grown, when the difference in production 
costs will permit their profitable retention for another year. A 
six-months calf of good blood, dropped in the spring, can be fattened 
so as to market it the following spring or summer from any cornbelt 
farm, but a six-months scrub will not efficiently utilize its feed be- 
cause its growth is slow, and it will not develop as rapidly, fatten 
as well, nor grow as satisfactorily as the well-bred animal. Well- 
bred calves can always be finished from calfhood on, and can make 
the best quality of carcass, since they can utilize efficiently feed that 
the scrub cannot consume economically from lack of capacity or 
from inability to fatten or grow. 



The use of purebred sires is the certain means of success in the 
future. This does not mean the indiscriminate use of such animals 
without regard to results — prices paid for them must be always as 
firmly grounded in returns as prices paid for feeders — but it does 
indicate that through them the efficient beef production of the 
future must be built. Quality as recognized today means better 
meat for the consumer, better killing qualities for the packer, and 
more efficient feeders for the producer. People are not buying 
meat nowadays to throw part of it away, and the majority of 
families with restricted pocketbooks are buying the medium weight 
cuts. The livestock market simply interprets the tendency of 
the meat-eating public and it recognizes that consumers will not 
tolerate waste except at a discount. — James Brown. 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part I. 

The Function of Cattle 

Beef cattle are the keystone of live 
Position of stock farming. They fit into the farm 

Cattle in the economy more perfectly than any 

System of other animal because they require less 

Farming labor for their care, they are less sub- 

ject to disease, they consume cheap 
roughages and high priced concentrates in proportions 
better suited to ordinary farm rotations, and their prod 
uct is less subject to speculative and seasonal fluctuations 
than any other class of meat animals. Beef cattle take 
less fertility from the farm when they are marketed than 
any other major farm product. Grain can be sold for 
cash as can the better quality of hay, but low grade hay, 
cane, corn stalks, and pasture have a very limited and 
unremunerative market. The direct sale of any of them 
increases the costs in harvesting and marketing and 
reduces the producing value of the land to such an 
extent that few farmers can get a proper return for it. 
Cattle supply the necessary market for both crops and 
farm labor, and through manure retain or even increase 
the richness, mellowness, life and waterholding capacity of 
the soil. Cattle feeding is the ideal operation from the 
standpoint of permanence of farming, of acquiring a 
comprehensive farm equipment, and of fully employing 
farm labor the year around. 

Cattle were the first animals 
Origin and domesticated by man for purely agri- 

Kinds of cultural purposes. They were kept 

Cattle for their meat and hides only in the 

earlier times, but later were mJlked 
and still later used for draft purposes. Unfortunately the 
kind of cattle that are best for beef are not best for 

Page Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RMS IN G 

milk or draft, and for many centuries cattlemen have 
selected their animals with these differences in mind. 
The breeders of continental Europe have tried to com- 
bine in their breeds all of the traits that make animals 
useful for milk, beef and draft, so-called triple purpose 
animals, but since many of the characters are antagonistic 
to each other, certain compromises in type have had to 
be made, which have rendered the animals less efficient 
for each of the special purposes. The principal example 
of this type is the Fribourgeois, the popular yellow and 
white breed of northeastern France, southeastern Belgium, 
Luxemburg and southwestern Germany. The almost 
complete replacement for draft purposes of cattle by 
horses in Great Britain and America many years ago 
has rendered the draft requirement unnecessary, and the 
common breeds in use in these two countries are either 
dual purpose or single purpose. The dual purpose 
breeds are those that have a fair value both for milk 
and beef, and include the iMilking Shorthorn, the Red 
Poll, and- the Devon. The special purpose breeds are 
either milk or beef, although each dairy breed has some 
value as a meat animal and each beef breed has some 
value as a milk producer. The dairy breeds in order of 
their beef value are Brown Swiss, Holstein-Friesian, 
Ayrshire, French Canadian, Guernsey and Jersey. The 
beef breeds are led decidedly by the Shorthorns and 
Polled Shorthorns in milk production, with the Herefords, 
Polled Herefords, Aberdeen-Angus and Galloways, second- 
ary in this particular. 



Page Ten 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part II. 

Cattle Breeds 

Breed As shown in the preceding para- 

Qualifications graph, beef cattle may come from any 
of six specialized breeds, while dual 
purpose and even dairy breeds show some beef merit. 
Within the beef breeds themselves, there is more difference 
between good and poor animals of one breed than there 
is between the different breeds. Supporters of each 
breed claim special characteristics for their favorites 
which are supposed to make them better than their 
rivals, but it has never been proved that the qualities 
for which one breed may be famous do not appear in the 
representatives of other breeds. For example, rustling 
qualities and ability to fatten on grass are supposed to 
be pre-eminent Hereford characteristics; quality, milk 
production and adaptability, Shorthorn characteristics; 
and wonderful hardiness, a Galloway characteristic; yet 
records of our fairs and ranges can nearly always show 
where the breed in question has been excelled by a few 
individuals of other breeds in the points where supremacy 
was claimed. Hence the young breeder can well afford 
to take the stock that suits his purpose where he is located, 
regardless of breed, keeping always in mind the market 
for his young animals. 

Race horse breeders have a maxim 
The Purebred that "What is bred in the bone will 
Animal come out in the flesh." This applies in 

a striking way to cattle, for "cat- 
hammed, fish-backed" dams and sires produce "cat- 
hammed, fish-backed" calves just as surely as one roll- 
ing tumbleweed will infect a field. Conversely, broad- 
backed, meaty cattle will as certainly produce broad- 

Page Eleven 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

backed meaty calves. This quality of being able to 
transmit to the offspring the beef qualities for which 
selection has been made, convinced breeders that selected 
stock was purer in its inheritance than unselected and 
the term purebred was adopted for such animals. This 
does not mean that the animals are absolutely pure for 
such traits and v/ill transmit no others, but it does mean 
that they will do so with infinitely greater regularity 
than the unselected kind. No strain of cattle now exists 
that cannot be made to breed more uniformly than it 
does now, but the average purebred animal breeds so 
much more uniformly than his grade and scrub rivals 
that his worth cannot be gainsaid. The cattle raiser 
who uses purebred bulls over a period of years invariably 
has more uniform and cheaper finishing steers than the 
man who uses bulls of mixed bloods. ' 

Pure breeds of beef cattle arose 
How the through the selection of animals 

Purebred slightly superior to the stock of the 

Developed surrounding districts with respect to 

beef production. The first improver 
of beef cattle was an Englishman, a resident of Leicester- 
shire, named Robert Bakewell. He worked with the old 
Longhorn stock of central England, and being a skilled 
anatomist was able to appreciate the means whereby 
changes in external form would affect the carcass. He 
selected for increased thickness of loin, rib and quarter, 
for more rapid fattening qualities, and for early maturity. 
By mating together related animals he fixed these traits 
so strongly that his cattle became known all over England, 
while his sheep which he improved by similar methods, 
were so well known that George Washington imported 
rams of Bakewell breeding for use on his Mt. Vernon 
estates. From a careful study of Bakewell's methods 
the Colling brothers, the Booth and the Bates families 
established Shorthorn cattle, and a few years later the 
Tompkins, Prices and Hewers founded the Herefords. 

Page Twelve 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Three or four decades after this the foundations of the 
Aberdeen-Angus were securely laid by Hugh Watson in 
the north of Scotland, while numerous breeders were 
busily evolving the Galloway. During the eighties of 
the last century the problem of horn bruises in shipping 
cattle became so important in America that the Polled 
Shorthorn and Polled Hereford arose. Each of these 
breeds was developed to meet a special economic need, 
and the animals chosen as founders of the breed were 
arbitrarily selected on the basis of their transmitting the 
desired characters to their descendants. 

The ultimate test of the purebred 
The animal is its possession of a registered 

Pedigree . pedigree. Not the mere possession of 

a pedigree counts, for all cattle have 
pedigrees. This term is just another name for ancestors, 
or a tabulation of ancestors. All cattle have ancestors, 
but purebred cattle have certified ancestors, and it is 
well known that the average of its ancestors are well 
above the average of the ancestors of scrub animals. 
Poor cattle with poor cattle in their pedigrees produce 
poor cattle, while good cattle with good cattle in their 
pedigrees produce good cattle. Registered animals have 
a recorded pedigree behind them which shows the kind 
of stuff of which they are made. The registry association 
by its approval of the animal's ancestry gives assurance 
to the breeder of a well marked standard of calves result- 
ing from its use. 



PaP,a Thirteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 






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Pa^e Fourteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part III. 

Cattle Breeding 

Native cattle in any section of the 
How Cattle country have differed considerably 

Are Improved from the type which has come to be 
accepted as standard by American 
steer feeders. The general procedure by which the quality 
of this native stock has been improved has been through 
the grading up with sires of improved and purebred stock. 
These animals come from strains which have been selected 
for special beef purposes and in addition to possessing the 
desired type are usually able to transmit it to their off- 
spring. Despite the loyalty of the supporters of the 
different breeds to their favored stocks there is little 
difference in the ability of Shorthorns, Herefords, Aber- 
deen-Angus, and Galloways to transmit improved beef- 
making ability. Because the Aberdeen-Angus and 
Galloways happen to be black and polled their sup- 
porters have believed them to be more prepotent for 
grading purposes than some of the lighter colored animals 
but it is now known that these characteristics are inherited 
separately and have no relation necessarily to the trans- 
mission of fattening qualities and early maturity which 
are passed on on their own merits. 

Grading up of the stock of a locality 
Grading up means literally to use purebred bulls 

Beef Cattle on native cows generation after genera- 

tion. The characters which make a 
purebred valuable are thus transferred to the herd, the 
degree of transfer depending on the number of crosses of 
improved blood. For example: I f a Hereford be crossed 
to Florida ' piney-woods" cows, half of the inherited 
characters of the offspring are Hereford, the other half, 
"piney-woods." If to these crossbred heifers. Herefords 

Page Fifteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

are again mated, on the average three quarters of the 
traits inherited will be Hereford, and one quarter "piney- 
woods." This does not mean that any single individual 
is three-fourths Hereford, but only that the average of 
all characters in that generation is three-fourths Here- 
ford. As a matter of fact it is possible, although not 
probable, that some animals of the second cross might 
have entirely Hereford characters, with a similar number 
only half Hereford, and with the others intergrading be- 
tween, but the average would still be three-quarters 
Hereford or 75 percent. By continuing the use of Here- 
ford bulls for several generations, the proportion of Here- 
ford characters would be increased, while some of the 
characters would be pure Hereford, beginning with the 
second cross. The proportion of these pure characters 
would increase with each generation although not as 
rapidly as the total number of Hereford characters. The 
more that Hereford sires are used, the more likely the 
resulting grade dams will transmit Hereford traits, and 
the purer the characters of the new generations of calves 
will be. The rate of increase in these characters is shown 
in the follov/ing table : 

One cross 50% Hereford traits. 

Two crosses 7^% Hereford traits. 

Three crosses ^7-5% Hereford traits. 

Four crosses 93-75% Hereford traits. 

Five crosses 96.875% Hereford traits. 

Six crosses 98.4375% Hereford traits 

And so on, each additional cross producing animals 
having a proportion of Hereford characters half way 
between the last generation and 100 percent. This does 
not apply to Herefords only but to any improved breed 
of livestock. Herefords are used simply for illustrative 
purposes. Some breeds seem to be more potent in trans- 
mitting their characters than others, but this is due to 
their possession of more noticeable characters than the 

Page Sixteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

others. For example the Aberdeen- Angus is black, a 
dominant color in inheritance no matter what breed of 
cattle it is found in, and polled, also a dominant character, 
hence it markedly affects the appearance of its calves. 
This is only in appearance, however, as other breeds are 
able to build up the fattening tendency just as rapidly. 
Neither sire nor dam transmit to 
The Relative their offspring all of the qualities 
Influence of which they possess, but on the average 

Sire and Dam each transmits only half. On this 
account it is highly important to have 
well bred bulls so that their contribution to the offspring 
will be more uniform. The cows of the herd always 
carry more widely divergent characters than it is pos- 
sible for any one bull to possess, hence their hereditary 
contribution to the calves will be very much more variable 
than the hereditary contribution of the bull. Therefore 
the old statement that the bull is half of the herd is cor- 
rect, but if we consider his power to make the herd 
uniform, we can really consider him as having more than 
a fifty percent influence. 

Purebred sires to increase the pro- 
The Proportion duction of better beef animals, provide 
of Purebred the most serious need of the live- 

Caff/^ . stock industry at present. While the 

cattle producers of the cornbelt and 
of the range, in general realize the desirability of the 
better bred sires there are other sections of the country 
in which the real value of the improved type is not 
understood, and in which such campaigns as the Better 
Sire Movement are bound to bring first-class results. 
Figures obtained from the secretaries of the different 
breed associations present the following facts for the 
consideration of beef cattle producers. Part of these 
figures are accurate while part are based on estimates, 
but they are the most reliable figures presented to date. 

Page Seventeen 



Living 


Unregis- 
tered 


Living 
Bulls 


I 25,000 


35,000 


55.0CO 


500,000 






500,000 




1 50,000 


25,000 






18,500 


6,000 


4,000 


12,000 • 


7,000 


7,000 


25,000 


6,500 


1 1 ,000 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Number Number Number Number 
Breed Registered 

Aberdeen-Angus 309,300 

Herefords. . . ^ 88q,ooo 

Shorthorns 1,500,000 

Galloways 47.300 

Red Polls q5,QOo 

Polled Herefords 21 ,000 

Polled Shorthorns. . . . 48,400 

On January i, iqio, there were estimated by the 
United States Department of Agriculture to be 44,385,000 
beef cattle in America. There are approximately i ,200,000 
living registered purebreds reported in the preceding 
table or 2.7 percent of the total number of beef cattle in 
the country. The two societies having the largest number 
of unregistered purebreds, the Shorthorn and Hereford, 
were unable to estimate their respective numbers, but 
even if there were half as many unregistered as there are 
living registered animals the total number of purebreds 
in the United States would still be under 4 percent, a 
decidedly inadequate number from the standpoint of 
efficient beef animals. 

One means whereby this low pcr- 
Community centage of purebred animals can 

Breeding be more efficiently utilized is through 

the system of community or circuit 
breeding. If the farmers of a community organize to 
use one breed and exchange the sires either under a 
system of community ownership or by private sale to 
one another, additional years of service may be gotten 
out of high-class breeding bulls whose usefulness due to 
relationship to the females of the herd may be outlived 
in two or three years. Furthermore, the concentration 
of good cattle in a community will attract large numbers 
of purebred buyers and will give the market cattle 
shipped from the district a reputation among shippers 
and killers. Waukesha County, Wis., and Gage County, 

Page Eighteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Neb., are well known examples of the advantage of 
co-operation between neighboring breeders. 

While supporters of the different 
The breeds of cattle try to claim all the 

Distribution good things in the beef category for 

of the Breeds their favorite breeds, the bulk of live- 
stock men have a feeling that it is not 
a question of breed merit for beef production but of the 
merit of the individual bull, cow, or steer. Nevertheless 
the average run of the different breeds finds them defi- 
nitely adapted to certain types of farming and certain 
general conditions, although no breed can be considered 
exclusively to monopolize a certain region or a certain 
function. " For example: the Hereford is particularly 
well adapted to the range country because of its ability 
to fatten on grass; the Shorthorn is well adapted to 
general farming because of its size, ready fattening and 
milking qualities; the Aberdeen-Angus is especially well 
adapted to cornbelt feed lots and baby beef production 
because of its early maturity and most excellent carcass 
qualities; the Red Poll, to the central west because of its 
dual purpose ability; the Galloway, to the north and the 
short grass country because of its hardiness; and the 
Polled Shorthorns and Polled Herefords to the same 
regions as the horned breeds where hornlessness com- 
mands a premium. While individuals of each breed may 
succeed where other breeds are especially adapted, yet 
there is little doubt as to the general utility of the dif- 
ferent breeds under the conditions described. 



Page Nineteen 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part IV. 

The Production of Beef Cattle 

The success of growing cattle for 
Foundation the market depends in a large degree 

Blood for Beet on the kind of calves that are produced 
Production Unless the right foundations in blood 

and type are laid, no amount of feed- 
ing by the professional feeder or skill in killing and cutting 
by the packer can make up for the original deficiency. 
Hence it is up to the breeder of feeding cattle to use the 
right kind of bulls and continually to breed up the 
females of his herd. Unless proper mating is made at 
the start, choice to prime steers are rarely if ever, produced. 

The producer of range cattle has 
The Problems many problems to face due to short- 
of the Range ages of feed and water, that make his 

Cattle Breeder questions of special importance. The 
chief difficulty to engage his attention 
is the prevention of deterioration in size, and he must 
constantly introduce heavy boned bulls to keep his stock 
from "running out." It is the belief of students of this 
situation that the chief remedy to be applied is not 
through breeding but through feed, since the range is 
an abnormal environment for cattle bred to excel under 
the conditions of Scotland, England and the American 
cornbelt. The deficiency seems to be in the concentrates, 
that is, the protein and mineral matter, and for this pur- 
pose legumes should be introduced wherever possible, 
lespedeza, alfalfa, or any other clovers that make a good 
start. To tide over the feed shortages of snowbound 
winters and extra dry summers, it will pay the ranchman 
to grow corn, kafir, cane, or other crops that will make 
silage, and put it away in pit silos that can be dug at 

Page Twenty 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

convenient spots for watering and feeding. These will 
be found very useful in ordinary seasons, and by keeping 
close watch for spoilage and using only the older silage, 
reserves may be maintained for three or four years. 
These may seem to involve a greater degree of extra 
work than the rancher would desire, but he must remember 
that only by the attention to such details as these, can 
he continue to make his business uniformly successful. 
The feeder buyer has the most 
Buying important job from the standpoint 

Feeders of profit and loss that is found in the 

cattle industry until the animals are 
finally bought for the kill. Few feeders realize the extreme 
importance of buying their animals at the right price. 
Fewer still realize <ithe factors that determine feeder 
values. Until a few years ago feeder prices were deter- 
mined by the cost of finishing, and cattlemen could take 
more chances on coming out through the big end of the 
horn than they can nowadays. Since the outbreak of 
the war feeds have increased in cost and the demand 
for meat has been so accelerated that the cheaper and 
lighter carcasses not salable in pre-war times are now 
taken at correspondingly high prices. In addition to the 
reaction against waste in cuts, there is an actual increase 
in the willingness to eat unfinished meats, so the spread 
between the thin and finished animal which held in past 
years has been decidedly narrowed. This necessitates 
the closest possible study of finishing costs on the part 
of the feeder buyer, and the most careful supervision of 
the purchase of his stock. Feeder cattle not prudently 
bought can never make money, no matter how economi- 
cally the feeding may be managed. 

The majority of feeders do not 
Feeding recognize the importance of well 

Equipment arranged dry sanitary lots for steer 

feeding, nor do they realize the inti- 
macy of the relation of conditions in the feedlot with the 

Page Twenty-One 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

returns the steers are able to show. It is important 
from the standpoint of greatest efficiency in cattle feed- 
ing that not too many animals be confined in the same 
lot. The balance point as to numbers is determined by 
the rate at which the cattle gain and the increase in 
costs due to equipment and greater amount of labor. 
East of the Mississippi, the best results are obtained with 
from 30 to 45 steers in a lot, while farther west as many 
as 250 may be handled. The determining factors are 
the cost of labor and land as compared to the gains of the 
animals. The usual space required for steers has been 
found by experience to run about qo to 100 square feet 
per head, including shed covering which should allow 
20 to 25 square feet each. Where feeding is to be con- 
ducted over a period of time hard surface lots should be 
maintained, the shed being open, burclosed to the north, 
west and east. Concrete foundations prove most suit- 
able, but are too expensive in many sections of the 
country. Well packed crushed rock, brick or tile dust, 
or other surfacing material may be used, the latter being 
disadvantageous for cleaning although permitting the 
cattle to keep out of the muck. Drainage for cattle lots 
is perhaps most essential, as when the water runs off, 
even dirt lots may be kept in fair condition. Feed racks 
should have sufficient frontage to care for all of the 
steers without crowding. This means that there should 
be 2}4 to 3 feet front per steer. Some feeders have had 
considerable success in using a combination feed rack 
for grain and roughage as indicated in Fig. A in the 
accompanying illustration, while others have a separate 
trough for grain and silage with a rack for hay as shown 
in Fig. B. The combination rack is a little cheaper to 
construct, but the separate racks operate a little more 
satisfactorily from the free choice basis for the steer, 
since the animals have a better chance to balance indi- 
vidually their grain against their roughage. Many steers 
come gradually to have their respective places at the 

Page Twenty-Two 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

trough, and although they do not consume all the grain, 
they keep other steers away by remaining to eat silage 
or hay. Feeding troughs should always be cleaned after 
each feeding and kept scrupulously sweet. Salt should 
always be available, as it promotes the animal's thrift 
and increases his ability to consume feed. 




The great change in feed prices dur- 
Some Cattle ing the world war has to a certain 

Rations extent invalidated the standard rations 

proposed by the experiment stations, 
and each state is now conducting investigations on the 
growing and feeding of cattle with cheap feeds, feeds 
that in smaller measure compete with human needs. 
This has limited very markedly the use of grains, so the 
following rations are composed of cheap and available 
feeds in the sections of the United States suggested: 

Page Tiventy-Three 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Section 


Growing 


Fattening 


Bluegrass 


Corn silage or 


Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 




Corn fodder 


Clover or alfalfa hay 




Stalk Fields 


8-10 lbs. 


# 


Straw stacks 


All corn steers will eat 




.5 lbs. oilmeal or cotton- 


Oilmeal or cottonseed 




seed meal 


Oilmeal or cottonseed 




Bluegrass pasture 


meal 1-2 lbs. 


Southeast 


Velvet bean fields 


Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 




Peanut hay in winter 


Cottonseed meal 6-8 




Cottonseed meal and 


pounds or 




hulls 


Velvet bean meal and 




Bermuda grass pasture 


cornstalk meal mixed 
all steers will eat 


Central west 


Corn silage or 


Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 




Corn fodder or 


Alfalfa dry clover hay 




Stalk fields 


8-10 lbs. 




Straw stacks 


All corn steers will eat 




Corn 3 to 6 lbs. in winter 


Oilmeal or cottonseed 




Oilmeal or cottonseed 


meal 1.5-^5 lbs. 




meal i to 2 lbs. 






Bluegrass pasture 




Northwest 


Range 


Damaged grains 




Prairie or legume hay 


Peafields 




Straw stacks 


Legume hay 




Sunflower silage 


Oilmeal 2-3 lbs. 




Beet pulp where availa- 






ble 




Southwest 


Range 


Silage grain sorghum or 




Prairie or alfalfa hay 


corn 25-30 lbs. 




Cottonseed meal in win- 


Cottonseed cake 5-6 lbs. 




ter 2-3 lbs. 


Alfalfa or prairie hay 






8-10 lbs. 



It is possible in some districts of the blue-grass section 
to substitute peanut meal and velvet bean meal for 
cottonseed meal, especially on farms possessing suitable 
grinders for this purpose. In the southeast section the 
main reliance in growing steers must be placed on cotton- 
seed meal and hulls; the velvet bean fields, the Bermuda 
grass pasture and the peanut vine hay supplementing in 

Page Twenty-Four 




A draft, beef and milk type of France, Simmenthal-Fribourgeois cross. 
(Seepage 10.; 




A beef and milk type, the champion Red Polled cow "Constant. 
(Seepage 10.) 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

the periods when the cottonseed is not available. For fat- 
tening, the meal produced by grinding the entire velvet 
bean plant and the entire corn plant, gives a bulky and 
nutritious feed which the steer can use profitably up to 
the physical limits of its consumption. The northwest 
presents two distinct problems, the range problem and 
the small farm problem. The small farmer has a variety 
of products available for cattle growing, but the, range 
producer is limited to the grass of his acres and prairie hay, 
silage or straw in the winter. 

Success in growing cattle for market 
Growing depends upon two things, the breed- 

the Calf ing of the calf and the start in life 

the calf receives. When calves are 
intended for straight beef production only a small quan- 
tity of feed in addition to milk is necessary up to weaning 
time, but they should be taught to eat supplemental feeds 
during this period to prevent a set back when milk no 
longer is furnished. The amount of dry feeds consumed 
will be limited at first but should be increased gradually 
until the calf no longer needs milk when six to eight 
months old. Calves intended for baby beef should begin 
on grain when four to six months old, a mixture of equal 
parts ground by weight of corn, oats, and wheat bran 
is good to start with, and after the calves have become 
accustomed to it, it may be fed whole. There is less 
danger of digestive disturbance and scours when the 
corn and oats are whole than when ground. The grain 
allowance should be increased gradually so that weaning 
time will not provide a set back to the calves. From 
then on calves intended for baby beef should be kept on 
full feed. The following rations may prove suitable to 
different sections of the country: 

Ration No. i 

Corn lo lbs. 

Cottonseed Meal i Ihs. 

Page Twenty-Five 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Clover Hay 3 lbs. 

Silage 12 lbs. 

Oil meal and alfalfa may be substituted for cotton- 
seed meal and clover, and calves may be allowed all 
the straw they will eat. 

Ration No. 2 

Corn 6 lbs. 

Cottonseed Meal 3 lbs. 

Legume Hay 10 lbs. 

Straw No limit 

Ration No. 3 

Kafir or Milo 12 lbs. 

Cottonseed Meal 2>^ lbs. 

Silage 12 lbs. 

Ration No. 4 

Barley or Broken Wheat 10 lbs. 

Roots 10 lbs. 

Alfalfa Hay 6 lbs. 

Coarse Hay No limit 

In the foregoing rations oil meal may always be sub- 
stituted for cottonseed meal, barley or kafir for corn, 
and any of the legume hays (alfalfa, clover, velvet bean, 
cowpea, soybean, lespedeza or peanut vine) for any 
other. It is important that the feed of the growing steer 
calf contain plenty of protein and mineral matter, hence 
such feeds as clover, alfalfa, and silage should be given 
in abundance with some oats, and cottonseed or linseed 
meal. Calves that are to be fed out as long yearlings or 
two-year-olds, or to be sold as stockers at a year old, 
may be fed quite largely the first winter on cheap rough- 
ages but it pays to give small amounts of concentrates 
in order to keep the calves growing in a thrifty condition. 

It is highly important that calves be castrated when 
young, usually at six to eight weeks of age, because there 
is less danger of checking growth. The object of this is 
to prevent reproduction, to increase the fattening pro- 
pose Twenty-Six 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

pensity, to make the animal easier to handle, and to 
improve the quality of the meat. One of the greatest 
dangers to livestock improvement comes from permitting 
calves with only one or two crosses of improved blood to 
grow into bulls, thus replacing well bred bulls on farms 
and ranches. In order to insure success in castration, 
one must carefully wash and disinfect the hands and 
instrument? before operating and the wound after opera- 
tion, must make a large free opening to permit good 
drainage and prevent pus accumulations in the wound 
and must permit the calf plenty of exercise to keep the 
swelling down. Calves turned to pasture immediately 
after the operation recover more quickly than those 
confined to the stable, since the chances of infection are 
less. 

If calves are to be turned off as veals it is not necessary 
to castrate and they should be pushed along with skimmed 
milk, flax-seed meal and such other feeds as they can 
learn to consume, .until they are six to twelve weeks old 
and fat enough to market. Great care must be taken to 
see that the skimmed milk is sweet and not fed in dirty 
receptacles, as the digestive system of the calf may be 
deranged and scours or some other ailment result. Very 
few calves of beef breeding are killed as veals, the majority 
of such calves coming from milking herds. 

There are certain general principles 

The Advantage connected with the feeding of cattle 

of Young that each farmer should bear in mind. 

Cattle The younger the animal the cheaper 

the gain. 

The older the feeder the easier to fatten. 

The older the cattle the greater the proportion of 
roughage consumed. 

The older the cattle the less the labor and shelter 
required. 

The greater the abundance of pasture and cheap feeds 
and the more limited the fattening feeds, the greater 

Page Twentv-Seven 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

the profit in marketing cattle as stockers and feeders. 

Older cattle digest their feed less closely than young 
cattle, and both digest whole grain less closely than 
ground grain. 

The more ^limited the feeding space and the greater 
the supply o'f concentrates, the greater the opportunity 
for hogs to follow cattle. 

One pig weighing seventy to eighty pounds should be 
allowed for three steers. 

After all the big problem in feeding 
Essentials of is to satisfy the requirements of the 

a Complete animal, and a study of the require- 

Ration ments is necessary in order to feed 

scientifically and economically. Gen- 
erally speaking the needs of the animal may be grouped 
under four heads: Growth, energy, fattening, and health 
regulation. Growth is dependent on the nitrogenous sub- 
stances in the feed, and is supplied by such feeds as bran, 
milk, cottonseed meal, linseed meal, gluten feed, cowpeas, 
soybeans, alfalfa, and clover. Feeds which supply 
energy consist mainly of carbohydrates and fats, and are 
furnished by corn, barley, wheat, rye, prairie hay, straw, 
fodders, silage, grass, etc. Fattening powers are furnished 
by the same feeds as those that supply energy. At one 
time it was supposed that a simple estimate of the amounts 
of these feeds that would furnish a well balanced diet 
was sufficient in order to have successful results in feed- 
ing, but it is now known that there are certain ingredients 
of the ration that have only a slight food value, bufthat 
promote the utilization of the feed and the general health 
of the animal. Foremost among these may be mentioned 
mineral matter, such as salt, .lime, etc., which is known 
to be essential to successful feeding, but there is another 
class of substances known as vitamines found in certain 
fats and proteins that promote the body processes in 
much the same way that lubricating oil promotes the 

Page Twenty-Eight 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

work of the tractor without contributing to the energy 
that runs it. This is found in the hulls of cereals, 
cottonseed, flaxseed, timothy, some roots and alfalfa 
and clover hays. Corn is notoriously lacking in some 
of these substances, and animals fed corn alone get the 
"burned-out" appearance due to the lack of certain of 
these essential compounds in the feeds. Except for 
these health promoting substances however, one feed 
in a certain class may be substituted for another, 
according to cheapness in a given community, as bran 
for linseed meal or cottonseed meal, and kafir for corn or 
barley. Because of this possibility of substitution it 
is important that the feeder should study feed values, 
as only by such a system can he make a business-like 
profit on his feeding operations. 

One of the most important feeds 
Silage from the standpoint of health pro- 

motion is silage, which provides the 
steer and growing animal with succulent green feed the 
year around. While corn is pre-eminently the best silage 
plant, kafir, sunflowers, cane, oats and peas, alfalfa, and 
soybeans with oats make a very desirable product. 
The principle involved in ensiling feeds is manifold: 
in general fermentations change the sugars of the plant 
to acids, and preserve the total food value more perfectly 
than any other method of feed preservation. If there is a 
shortage of starches and sugars as in alfalfa, peas and beans, 
it must be made up by mixing corn, cane, oats, rye, or some 
similar agent. Molasses has been used satisfactorily where 
cheap enough, being sprinkled over the green legume as 
it goes through the silage cutter.. The two most important 
provisions in silage making are the presence of these 
sugars and the exclusion of air. I f too much air is present, 
the silage putrefies, hence one must be careful to tramp 
such crops as oats very carefully in order to drive the air 
from the hollow stems. There are six distinct advantages 
from ensiling crops. The relative expense is low ($2.50 

Page Twenty-Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

to $7.50 a ton, depending on investment in silo and 
machinery and labor conditions) , it can be made available 
for any season of the year, less of the feed value is wasted, 
it is eaten with practically no waste, the weather handi- 
caps the making of silage less than putting the crop up 
in any other form, it makes weeds available for feed if 
mixed with the silage crop, and it can be stored in less 
space than the same feed dry, in the ratio of 2 to 5 as 
far as food value is concerned. 

The requisites of a good silo are: 
Requisites of 1 — airtight walls; 2 — cylindrical shape 
a Good Silo (to prevent corners which fill improp- 

erly) ; 3 — smooth, strong, perpendicular 
walls (to prevent air pockets); and 4 — depth (to give 
pressure on the mass of fermentling feed, to reduce the 
percentage loss through fermentation of top layers before 
they can be fed, and to reduce the loss of food nutrients, 
which are greatest in upper part). Silos may be made of 
staves, brick, hollow tile, concrete, stone or steel. Pit 
silos with cement lining and concrete curb may be used 
in arid and semi-arid climates, but the material used 
anywhere for structure depends upon local conditions. 
See illustration on page 32. 

The diameter of a silo to be erected 
Silo should be determined from the number 

Capacities of animals to be fed, the idea being 

to feed about two inches of silage off 
the top to prevent spoilage. The minimum amount to be 
fed daily, to attain this depth of feeding, is shown in the 
following table, allowing twenty-five pounds per head : 



Diameter of Silo 


Minimum Amount of Silage 


Number Head 


10 feet 


520 pounds 


21 


1 1 feet 


625 pounds 


^5 


12 feet 


745 pounds 


30 


14 feet 


1,015 pounds 


41 


16 feet 


1,325 pounds 


53 


s Thirty 







PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Diameter of Silo 


Minimum Amount of Silage 


Number Head 


1 8 feet 


1 ,680 pounds 


67 


20 feet 


2,075 pounds 


83 


12 feet 


2,510 pounds 


100 


24 feet 


2,985 pounds 


iiq 


26 feet 


3,505 pounds 


140 



In order to determine the capacity of a silo, multiply 
the number of cubic feet in the silo by 40 pounds, the 
average weight of a cubic foot of silage. As a matter of 
fact, this figure will vary according to the height of the 
silage in the silo, and those interested in a really accurate 
result can use the following average weights: 

Weight at Given Depth 
18.7 

33-1 

46.2 

56.4 
61 .0 
The^ deeper the silage gets the more a cubic foot of 
silage at that depth weighs and the heavier the average 
of all the silage is. 





Average Weight for 


pth of Silage 


Whole Depth 


I -foot 


18.7 


lo-feet 


26.1 


20-feet 


33-3 


30-feet 


39.6 


36-feet 


42.8 



Page Thirty-One 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part V. 

Management of the Beef Herd 

There are three systems of handling 
Three Types beef-bred herds in common usage in 

of Cattle the United States. The straight beef 

Farming system in which the steers are grown 

out as cheaply as possible is adapted 
to regions where pasture is plentiful and cheap and is 
practiced more widely in United States than any other 
method of beef production. The dual purpose system is 
used more commonly in the general farming states 
although up to the present it is not more popular than 
the straight beef system if the numbers practicing it be 
any criterion. In this system the cows are 'milked and 
the calves are raised on skimmed milk and supplemental 
feeds. The dual purpose calves as a rule are not as 
economical beef producers as the straight beef calves 
but when grown out and fattened they frequently make 
very acceptable beef. The dual purpose system is com- 
mendable only when adhered to properly, and is likely 
to be quite unsuccessful if it is attempted to turn the 
beef animals into a dairy herd. The baby beef system is 
a highly specialized method and is adapted to such 
districts as the cornbelt where there is a good supply 
of feeds for fattening and sufficient pasture for the 
summer maintenance of the breeding cows with their 
calves. While it requires a little more equipment to 
handle the herd the best market prices can be obtained 
in baby beef as well as in the dual purpose systems, if 
the calves are dropped in the fall and finished to market 
in the summer and early fall. If calves are dropped in 
the spring they should come late in February, March 
or early April, but if they come in the fall, late August, 
September and early October are preferable. The 

Page Thirty-Two 




A tile sJlo representative 



of one of the many types of per 
adopted throughout the country. 










I 



iJ^ 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

question as to the better time can be settled only by a 
study of individual farm conditions, taking into con- 
sideration the equipment, labor, pasture and feed supply. 

Cows raised for the production of 
The Maintenance calves only, can be fed very cheaply 
of the during the biggest portion of the year 

Breeding Herd by using silage and dry roughages 
combined with a small quantity of 
such feed rich in protein as oilmeal or cottonseed meal. 
If clover or alfalfa hay is available, these may be omitted 
except during the periods immediately following calving 
and for two weeks before breeding. Such cows do not 
require anything more than open shelter except at calving 
time, when they must be placed separate from the rest 
of the herd. If fall calving is practiced little shelter 
for the cow at parturition is* required, but if the calves 
come in February, March and April, both dam and off- 
spring must be sheltered from the extremes that some- 
times occur at that season of the year. The purchase 
of feeds for breeding cows should not be discouraged 
when necessary, since a suitable purchase may be more 
than repaid in the additional growth of the calf. Suc- 
cessful cattle raisers must grow the necessary roughages 
however, and for this part of the ration can well adopt 
the slogan "Grow all you feed and feed all you grow." 
In the summer the cow herd will be maintained largely on 
pasture but if the pastures are short supplements must be 
provided. Silage is the best agent for this but if not 
available dry roughage such as hay or green forage crops 
should be provided. After harvest, the cows can be 
maintained for a time on the stubble and grass growth 
in the fields, in fact some men plant clover or other crops 
which will develop after harvest for this very purpose. 
In the South, velvet beans may be utilized for the pasture 
of fall and early winter while farther north the stalk fields 
are available. In the winter hay and silage will provide 
the main dependence but when protein feeds are nec- 

Page Thirty-Three 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

essary from one to two pounds of linseed or cottonseed 
cake may be fed. 

The fundamental requirement for 
The Pasture economical beef cattle production is 

plentiful and permanent pasture. In 
the cornbelt, bluegrass pasture has proved to be the 
most satisfactory permanent proposition, but white 
clover mixtures make a little richer feed of it. From a 
temporary standpoint good returns may be obtained 
from mixed timothy and red clover while in shaded areas 
orchard grass and red top should be used. In the range 
country native grasses have been found superior to 
anything seeded, but care must be taken not to 
overstock them or both variety and amount of herbage 
are lost. Considerable success has been found in parts 
of Kansas and Oklahoma by restricting the pasturage on 
certain areas and seeding the remainder in order to renew 
the growth. The farmer who feels that his pasture is 
deserving of a little investment and care will find the 
distribution of suitable fertilizers will promote the 
growth of grass very decidedly. Advice as to the kind 
of fertilizer or the amounts should be obtained from 
the state experiment station or from the county agri- 
cultural agent. In the South, Bermuda grass and les- 
pedeza have been found highly resistant to drouth and 
their use in southwestern states may possibly be extended. 
The farmer must remember that while the grasses are 
natural in most of the sections of America, they are 
not spontaneous under heavy systems of pasturage, 
and discing, seeding, and occasional fertilizing are 
necessary to obtain the greatest returns. 

Hay provides the winter substitute 
The Contents of for pasturage on most farms. The 
the Hay Stack successful farmer will calculate the 
amount of hay he needs to carry his 
cattle through the winter, allowing from ten to sixteen 
pounds per head, per day, depending on the availability of 

Page Thirty-Four 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

such other feeds as straw, corn stalks, and silage. In 
order to calculate this it is desirable for him to Icnow 
how to determine the number of tons of hay in the 
stack. The ordinary method of determining this is first 
to find the volume of the stack in cubic feet and then to 



Peaked atack Average stack Fvai stack 

IF HBICirr IS THREE-FOURTHS OF WIDTH. 







IF HEIGHT EQUALS WIDTH. 




New hay 
190S 



Old hay 
1673 



Hew hay 
1714 



Old hay 
1529 




IF HEIGHT IS OIJE-FOURTH GREATER THAN WIDTH. 



N©* hay 
17U 



Old hay 
1529 




To determine contents of hay stack multiply length by 

width by over and divide by the number indicated above 

in order to obtain the number of tons. 

Page Thirty-Five 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

transform it to tons. To determine this the farmer will 
measure the width and length of the stack and then get 
the distance from the ground on one side to the ground 
on the other at a point which is about the average height 
of the stack.- Having obtained these three figures for 
width length and over, they are multiplied together and 
divided by the figures shown in the accompanying diagram 
depending on the shape of the stack and the length of 
time the hay has been in the stack. The resultant 
figure will give the number of tons of hay in the stack. 

One of the most important factors 
Sanitation on in success with beef cattle is the 
the Farm health of the herd. The cheapest way 

in the long run to safeguard the breed- 
ing animals is by the prevention of disease and sanitation. 
Every cattleman should provide himself with an isolation 
shed and pen to which sick animals can be taken. This 
will secure privacy and rest for the animals and in addi- 
tion will limit the spread of contagious or infectious 
disease. After a diseased animal has been removed from 
this lot all straw and manure not exposed to the sunlight 
and wind should be carefully burned and the shed 'and 
feed troughs should be disinfected, either with lime or 
a spray. Special care should be taken to provide bright, 
clean, sanitary quarters for calving as a step taken in 
time here may prevent serious losses later due to 
hemorrhagic septicemia, scours, sore eyes, snuffles, and 
various other calf diseases. Feed troughs, water tanks, 
and other places where cattle commonly come in contact 
with each other should be kept scrupulously clean and 
should be disinfected frequently. 

Page Thirty-Sir 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Some of the commonest diseases 
Cattle \vhich American cattlemen have to 

Diseases (ace are lump jaw, blackleg, contagious 

abortion, foot and mouth disease, foot 
rot, hemorrhagic septicemia and tuberculosis, while the 
following are the commonest parasites which have to be 
combated ; Texas fever tick, lice, screw worms, ox warble 
and mange. 

Lump Jaw. Lump jaw is a chronic non-infectious 
disease that affects the jaws of cattle and the udders of 
swine. It is caused by a fungus that is frequently found 
on barley beards, oat stubble and various grasses, although 
it does not grow outside of the animal body. It appears 
as a hard tumor-like swelling on the jaw in the early 
stages of the disease, but later becomes ulcerated from 
the inside, causing slobbering and difficulty in chewing. 
The animal becomes emaciated and frequently starves 
to death. The most satisfactory way to handle the 
animal is to begin fattening it at the first signs of disease 
and ship to market before the affection becomes too 
marked. Such animals are subjected to rigid examination 
after death and if the disease is localized in the head the 
animal is passed as fit for food. 

Blackleg. This is a highly contagious disease that 
affects cattle between the ages of six and twenty-four 
months. It is usually fatal in the course of twelve to 
thirty-six hours after the animal first shows signs of 
sickness. However, the animal may have been infected 
from three to five days previous to the first symptoms. 
The animal shows a high fever, loss of appetite and great 
depression, while it usually stops chewing its cud in the 
very earliest stages. Swellings appear over the heavily 
muscled parts of the body and if one strokes the skin in 
these parts a distinct crackling is heard and felt. There 
is no satisfactory remedy and the best method is preven- 

Page Thirty-Seven 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

tive treatment by means of vaccination. The losses 
following this are less than one-half of i percent. 

Contagious Abortion. This is a chronic and highly 
insidious disease that is confined to the organs of repro- 
duction and is probably the most widely spread disease 
in cattle. It is caused by a specific germ which is more 
likely to infect heifers than cows and which seldom affects 
the bull. During the early months after breeding the 
animal appears normal but the calf may be born from 
three to five months prematurely. Some cows may be- 
come "carriers" of the disease without themselves being 
sick. Skilled veterinarians are required to recognize 
these animals by means of blood tests. The only treat- 
ment possible is preventive. Immediately after the 
animal aborts all of the litter should be disposed of by 
burning and the stable floor should be disinfected with a 
strong liquid. The cow should be douched with a i per- 
cent solution of salt at blood temperature to prevent the 
accumulation of pus. Some investigators at present urge 
the use of a vaccine, but this has not yet been perfected. 

Foot and Mouth Disease. Although this disease is 
not common in America, there have been several serious 
scourges from it, the last in the years 1Q14-15. It affects 
cattle worse than other stock and the mortality ranges 
from I to 3 percent. The disease opens with a moderate 
fever and the appearance of blisters in the mouth and 
between the hoofs. A profuse flow of saliva is stimulated 
which hangs from the mouth in viscid ropes. No attempt 
is made to treat the disease in the United States and 
infected animals are immediately slaughtered. 

Foot Rot. Cattle that are forced to stand in filthy 
lots occasionally suffer from a contagious hoof disease 
known as foot rot. The animals become lame, develop 
a hot and painful swelling around the hoof and lose their 
appetite and flesh. The "proud flesh" which appears 
must be trimmed away, the pus tracts drained and a dis- 

Page Thirty-Eight 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

infectant applied. In cattle the best remedy is pine tar 
held in place by a bandage passed between the claws and 
tied around the pastern. 

Hemorrhagic Septicemia. This disease runs a short 
course in cattle that frequently ends in death and affects 
calves more commonly than older animals. The method 
of infection is not known although cattle on pasture are 
less likely to be affected than those under confinement. 
The animals refuse feed, exhibit a severe fever, show 
difficulty in breathing and develop swellings in the throat 
and brisket. When the intestines are affected the animals 
show signs of colic and pass bloody manure. Once the 
disease is developed medicines are useless, hence efforts 
are directed toward preventing the spread to other 
animals. All unaffected animals should be removed to 
fresh quarters and vaccinated, and the infected buildings 
and lots disinfected. 

Tuberculosis. This is one of the most serious diseases 
affecting cattle because of the possibility of its transmis- 
sion to man. It is readily transmitted to hogs following 
cattle, in many cases as high as 25 percent being rendered 
unfit for food. The disease is so named because small 
tubercles form in the internal organs. Infection is 
usually spread by eating food or drinking fluids con- 
taminated by the discharges from infected animals. 
Frequently animals severely afflicted with the disease 
show no signs of it externally. If the lungs are affected 
there may be a cough and difficulty in breathing, while 
if the intestines are involved, a chronic diarrhea is present. 
The two common tests for the presence of tuberculosis 
are the injection test and the intradermal test with 
tuberculin. In the first case the animal shows a marked 
rise in temperature a few hours after injection if affected 
with the disease, while in the second case a small hard 
swelling develops at the point of inoculation within 
twenty-four to ninety-six hours. Treatment is unsatis- 

Page Thirty-Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

factory and the only practicable method known is the 
preventive one which removes all infected animals and 
utilizes sanitary methods. 

Texas Fever Tick. Only a few years ago this pest 
was prevalent throughout the southern states, but is 
being rapidly eradicated by means of the quarantine. 
Its ill effects come through the injury to the cattle in 
sucking their blood and infecting them with the germs 
of a disease that results in high fever and occasionally 
death. The vitality of most infected animals is so low 
that they are not profitable to handle. The most suc- 
cessful means of getting rid of the tick is by periodic 
dipping. 

Cattle Lice. These parasites do the most damage in 
the winter months and are more likely to infect thin cattle 
than fleshy ones. They can best be disposed of by dipping 
in the fall before cold weather sets in, followed by a second 
dipping seven to ten days later to kill any lice hatching 
after the first treatment. 

Screw Worms. During hot weather screw worms 
may appear in wounds, cuts or sores, as a result of eggs 
laid in these parts by a fly. The most effective treament 
is to open the wounds, to wash them with gasoline, and to 
daub them with pine tar. 

Warbles. The ox warble is a grub which develops 
under the skin in late winter or early spring, bores a hole 
through it, and drops to the ground where it hatches into 
a fly. There are no preventive measures known but the 
grubs ready to drop from the animal should be squeezed 
out and destroyed and those not quite ready to emerge 
should be dislodged with a sharp knife. 

Mange. Mange is caused by a small mite that attacks 
the skin causing it to become scurfy. It spreads from 
one animal to another by contact and can be remedied 
by dipping or spraying. 

Page Forty 




Tubercular cow apparently healthy in appearance which reacted to the tuberculin 
test and was found diseased on killing. (See page 39.) 




A steer showing a pronounced case of lump jaw. (See page 37.) 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Ring Worm. This disease is quite similar to mange 
but causes circular patches on the skin instead of a general 
infection. It is most common during the winter and 
spring and is usually found on the heads and necks, 
although it may affect any part of the body. It causes 
severe itching and is remedied with iodine and nitrate 
of mercury ointment. Stables should be disinfected. 

As a general practice it is advisable 
The Cow and to provide quarters for calving even 
Her Calf though it may not be necessary to 

use them ordinarily. The average 
breeding cow needs little assistance if she is in a vigorous, 
healthy condition, nor do most calves, but there are many 
that die which would have lived if assistance had been 
available at the proper time. As soon as the calf is born 
all membranes should be removed from the mouth and 
nose and if the calf is not strong, a slight pull on the tongue 
and pressure in the ribs may stimulate breathing. The 
cow should be allowed to dry the calf herself and to give 
it its first care, although the calf may need assistance the 
first time to find the udder. The calf should always 
receive the first milk from the udder unless the cow is 
feverish and her udder inflamed, since it acts as a mild 
purgative. Clean, sanitary quarters are a distinct asset 
to any breeding farm. 

For convenience in determining the 
Gestation time the cow is due to calve, the time 

Table of service being known, a gestation 

table is given on page 42, by the use of 
which it is very easy to determine the approximate time 
a cow will calve. It will assist in keeping accurate breed- 
ing records. 



Page Forty-One 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Gestation Table for Cows (283 Days) 

Explanation- Find date cow was bred in first column and month bred in top 
hne The date in column below opposite date bred will be the time at which 
the cow is due to calve. 

Jan. F^b. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec 



Dayof 

Mo'th 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May 


June 


July 


Aug. 


Sepi-. 


Bred 


























, 




jj 






8 


II 


10 


u 


,1 


II 


11 


10 




12 


12 


10 


10 


q 


12 


1 1 


12 


12 


12 


12 


1 1 


3 
4 
5 
6 


n 


I 3 


1 J 


1 1 


10 


13 


12 


13 


13 


13 


13 






12 


12 


1 1 


14 


13 


14 


14 


14 


14 


13 


15 
16 


15 
16 


13 
14 


13 
14 


12 
13 


15 

16 


14 

15 


15 
lb 


15 
lb 


15 
16 


1? 
16 


«4 
15 

16 
17 
18 


7 
8 


17 
18 


17 
18 


15 
16 


IS 
16 


It 


17 
18 


16 

17 


Vs 


17 
18 


17 
18 


17 
18 


q 

lO 


IQ 


iq 


17 


17 


lb 


iq 


18 


iq 


iq 


iq 


iq 


lO 


20 


18 


18 


17 


20 


iq 


20 


20 


20 




iq 






11 


iq 


iq 


18 


21 


20 


21 


21 


21 


21 




11 


12 


11 


10 


20 


IQ 


22 


21 


22 


22 


22 


22 




n 

14 

i6 


23 


23 


21 


2 1 


20 


13 


22 


23 


23 


23 


23 






24 


22 


22 


11 


24 


23 


24 


24 


24 


24 


23 


^5 
16 


25 
26 


23 
24 


23 
24 


22 
23 


25 
26 


24 
25 


25 
26 


25 
26 


25 
26 


25 

26 


24 

11 

27 
28 


17 
i8 


^7 
18 


17 
18 


^5 

2fc 


^5 
26 


24 
25 


27 
28 


26 
27 


27 
28 


27 

28 


27 
28 


27 
28 


IQ 


iq 


2Q 


27 


27 


26 


2q 


28 


2q 


2q 


2q 


2q 


30 


30 


28 


28 


27 


30 


2q 


10 


30 


30 


30 




11 


Nov. I 


Dec.i 

2 


2q 
30 


2q 
30 


28 

Mar. I 


Apr. I 


30 
May I 


June I 


July I 

2 


31 
Aug. I 


Sept", 


Oct. I 


13 
14 


1 
3 


3 
4 


31 
Ian. I 


31 
Feb. I 


2 
3 


2 
3 


2 

3 


2 
3 


3 
4 


3 


3 


3 


11 

27 
i8 

30 
31 


4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
q 
10 


5 
6 
7 
8 


2 
3 

4 

5 

e 

7 

8 


2 

3 
4 

5 
6 

7 


4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

q 

10 


4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
q 


4 
5 
6 
7 
8 

q 
10 


4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
q 
10 


5 

6 
7 
8 
q 
10 


4 
5 
6 
7 

8 
q 
10 


5 
6 
7 
8 
q 


5 
6 
7 
8 
q 
10 



Pti^e Forty-Two 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAiSING 
Part VI 

The Cattle Industry 

As a producer of beef the United 
The United States leads the world. On January 

States Position i, 1920, there were 68,132,000 cattle 
in Beef reported by the Bureau of Crop 

Production Estimates, of which 44,385,000 were 

beef animals. These exceeded the 
nearest competitive beef country by over a third. For 
iQiQ the relative figures on cattle, including milk and 
draft animals as well as beef, were given as follows by 
the Year Book of Figures of the Chicago Daily Drovers' 
Journal : 

India 147,335,000* 

United States 67,866,000 

Russia 52,052,000 

Brazil 28,962,000 

Argentina 25,867,000 

Germany 20,317,000 

France 12,1 8q,ooo 

Canada 10,051,000 

Australia 9,924,000 

Uruguay 8,193,000 

Not all of these countries are meat surplus countries, 
however, as many of them consume more than they 
produce. The nine principal meat export countries are 
the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, New 
Zealand, Uruguay, Mexico, Denmark and Paraguay. 
Brazil is rapidly progressing in beef cattle production 
and the day is not far off when she, too, will be a factor 
in the world's beef markets. 



•Includes buffaloes and millions of draft cattle. Proportion of beef cattle 
relatively low. 

Page Forty-Three 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

During the war America exportecf 
The American large quantities of beef which per- 
Beef Export mitted high prices to the producer. 

Trade During the five years 1910-1914 the 

average exports of beef products 
totaled 71,717,597 pounds, while during the five years 
of war, 1915-1919, the average exports were 385,612,976 
pounds, an increase of approximately 538 percent. 
America's principal customers for the last seven years 
are indicated by the following table : 

Country 1913 1Q14 iQi5 IQ'^ 

United Kingdom.. 26,292,537 19,353,985 152.865,431199,583,322 

France i53>430 67,542106,455,420 60,162,930 

Italy 408,775 437,55^ 11,871,446 53,633,048 

Netherlands 50,661,952 48,888,764 37,183,392 30,373,211 

Scandinavia 15,850,056 15,677,189 34,389,858 36,275,700 

Germany 23,809,562 19,572,376 1,393,312 850 

Country 1917 1Q18 1919 

United Kingdom. .205,616,173 390,033,935 347,932,906 

France 58,672,952 68,800,838 53,152,973 

Italy 14,019,782 17,634,774 65,045,368 

Netherlands 14,040,591 329,694 

Scandinavia 24,825,785 1,417,317 22,481,954 

Germany 

During times of peace the export 
Relation of trade is a very minor factor in support- 

Export Trade ing beef prices. In the past ten years 
to Cattle we have exported the following per- 

Production centage of our annual beef crop: 

Total Beef 

Production 

1910 9,621,000,000 

1911 9,398,000,000 

19 1 2 8,997,000,000 

191 3 8,559,000,000 

1914 8,236,000,000 

191 5 8,728,000,000 

1916 10,224,000,000 

1917 12,779,000,000 

191 8 10,200,000,000 

1919 9,050,000,000 

Page Forty-Four 



Total Beef 


Percent Beef 


Exports 


Exported 


127,405,575 


1-3 + 


93,618,984 


I .0 — 


64,378,658 


0.7 + 


40,059,655 


0.5— 


33.1^5,114 


0.4+ 


277,558,938 


3.2— 


320,132,447 


31 + 


322,766,893 


2.5 + 


521,844,093 


5-2— 


485,762,509 


5-4— 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

The war increased the percentage of our beef exports 
almost five times, the average for the first five years 
quoted above being .8 percent, while for the last five 
years it was 3.9 percent. The figures quoted above 
are for the fiscal years closing June 30. They do not 
include the period of the great drop in exports which 
occurred during the last half of igiq. If one compares 
the calendar years iqi8 and iqiq, one factor in the drop- 
ping beef prices of that period becomes apparent, for 
exports of 6qq,qq6,7i2 pounds in iqiS drop to ^ 46, ^47,8^2 
pounds in iqiq. It is difficult to say just where the per- 
centage of exports becomes large enough to be important, 
economic and political conditions having greater effect 
perhaps than any mathematical relation. 



Page Forty-Five 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

move the beef on hand, and the competition of other 
meats and foods for the favor of the family pocketbook. 
Illustrations of factors causing general trends in prices 
are the seasonal changes in the meat appetite of the 
buying public, the seasonal variations in receipts, the 
influence of the export trade, and such unusual occurrences 
as the recent war. l^he most important factor of all of these 
is the ability to sell beef and this is almost perfectly correlated 
with the volume of beef on hand as related to volume of busi- 
ness, and is entirely unrelated to the cost of production of 
the cattle. 

One of the chief factors contributing 
Seasonal to low prices for the average feeder is 

Variations the tendency for every cattleman to 

in Price market his steers in the period Novem- 

ber to April. The chart opposite 
presents a study of the prices of native beef on the Chicago 
market over a period of twenty years and shows that prices 
for this class of cattle are above the average of the year 
from April to mid-October, and below the average for the 
remainder of the year. Of course there have been years 
in which this was not true, but it represents the average 
condition over this time. The deviations below the 
average price for the year are greatest in January, Feb- 
ruary, June, November and December, while the least 
occurs in the period July to October. Furthermore, in 
the November to May period, the monthly average 
price runs nearer the bottom of the deviations from the 
average annual price, while in the period May to October, 
the monthly average runs nearer the top of the devia- 
tions from the average annual price. This means that 
the man who markets in the latter period not only gets 
better prices for his stock, but that he is much more 
likely to top the market, simply because the monthly 
average tends to run nearer there. 

Page Forty-Eight 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Because prices are higher at this 
The Problem of time does not necessarily mean that 
Marketing Beef the farmer feeder will get greater 
in All Seasons profits. Beef production depends on 
the annual cycle of the year, steers 
fatten on the crops that mature during the year, but meat 
is eaten on the daily cycle based on the frequency with 
which man gets hungry. It therefore happens that the 
bulk of the cattle come on the market in the months Sep- 
tember to February, after they have eaten the crops of 
the preceding season. Man's appetite runs throughout 
the year, however, and if he is to be assured a supply of 
meat at all times, someone must carry the cost of holding 
either animals or meat over to the leaner m.onths. If the 
animal is killed the market must absorb the cost of hand- 
ling or storing ; if it is held over for better prices the feeder 
must pay this cost in feed, equipment and maintenance. 
It therefore becomes an individual problem for each farmer 
to determine, whether the additional costs of carrying his 
cattle over will be more than the rise in price he will 
probably get. Few are competent to advise with him 
except the men of his locality who are familiar with con- 
ditions. Possibly the county agricultural agent can be 
of service in this connection. 

The two simplest ways of taking 
Methods of advantage of the better markets in 

Reaching the the seasons of lean supply are, first, 
Most Favorable to buy half finished cattle that some 
Markets other shipper has put on the market 

and feed them for thirty to sixty days, 
depending on condition, and, second, to handle the animals 
by cheap maintenance and suitable farm equipment to 
carry over into this favorable time. The first system is 
best adapted to feeders who live close to a big livestock 
market. At almost any time during the winter the 
careful buyer can go on the market and watch for steers 
selling at prices he can afford to consider for further 

Page Forty-Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

feeding. On the stockyards markets he will have to 
compete for warmed-up cattle with packer and speculator 
buyers to a greater extent than for the customary type 
of feeders, but he will find certain days in every week 
(not always the same day by any means), when there are 
more of this type on the market than can be absorbed and 
he can buy right. He may find it to his advantage to do 
this twice in a winter rather than once, in order to get the 
most economical use of his feed. He will need dry bot- 
tomed feedlots, and protection from the north and west 
in the more severe sections of the country, and he cannot 
profitably depend on the steers doing much rustling of 
their own, but must have facilities for bringing the steers' 
feed to them. The other system depends on finishing 
the steers on grass while it is still lush and requires silage 
and in some sections, soiling crops (peas, oats, vetch, cane, 
rye, etc.) as supplements. It adapts itself to baby beef 
production as calves of one spring can be marketed in 
July or August of the following year. Sufficient winter 
shelter will be required for these calves to keep them from 
using too much of their feed to provide heat. This system 
of feeding and finishing will do well on high priced land, 
but is of little value in the range and semi-range states 
where the system of production is too extensive. 

The relative effect of supply and 
The Effect of demand on cattle prices on the hoof 
Supply and is shown in the chart on page 4g. 

Demand on The two upper curves are not on the 

Hoof Prices same scale, one square on the curve 

for market receipts representing 50,000 
animals while one square for A.rmour's purchases repre- 
sents only 4,000 animals. To make the curves directly 
comparable the heights in the first curve should be multi- 
plied 12.5 times. In the case of the two lower curves, 
however, the general parallelism is quite marked. The 
fluctuation of hoof prices is not as great as that in dressed 
beef, because the price of byproducts does not vary with 

Page Fifty 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

the price of beef but remains relatively constant. On 
the other hand it will be observed that the purchases of 
Armour and Company bear only an indirect relation to 
the price of dressed beef. In general, purchases were low 
when prices were high and vice versa, but there are 
almost as many exceptions as illustrations. This is simply 
another way of saying that prices went up when Armour 
and Company did not have the beef to supply, while with 
increased supplies, prices dropped. 

If the points along the dressed beef curve and the live 
cattle curve are compared for divergence in direction, 
periods in which supply overrode demand to a slight 
degree will be noted. In September, iqi/, and Septem- 
ber, iqi8, dressed beef prices rose while hoof prices 
dropped, but it will be noted that in each case the number 
of cattle on the market materially increased— in the first 
instance 65,000 head or 27.6 percent of the previous 
month's receipts, and in the second instance, i55>ooo 
head or 64.6 percent. On the other hand, in November, 
iqi8, and July and August, iqiq, dressed beef prices 
dropped while hoof prices rose. This was unquestionably 
due to the fact that our purchases of the months preceding 
each of these periods were extremely light, while each 
preceded a period when the beef trade normally picks up, 
in the first case for Christmas, and in the second for the 
advent of cooler weather. 



Page Fifty-One 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part VIII 

The Beef Carcass 

There are eight standard wholesale 
The Relative cuts from the carcass; the round, the 
Value of loin, the flank, the rib, the chuck, 

Carcass Cuts the plate and the shank, as shown in 
the illustration on page 56, and 
the suet secured from the free fat of the animal. There 
is a pronounced difference in the value of different car- 
casses and in the value of the cuts produced from different 
parts of the same carcass. The quality of the carcass is 
dependent on the relative thickness of the lean meat, 
its tenderness, the interspersion of fat among the muscle 
fibers, the firmness of the flesh, the freedom from bruised 
spots, the rich redness of the lean meat, and the clear white 
of the sound firm fat. Carcasses poorly protected by fat 
cannot stand handling in the fresh meat trade, while 
carcasses too darkly red in the lean and too yellow in the 
fat indicate age or finish on feeds that produce a more 
perishable carcass. Two very important factors affecting 
the value of the carcass are the lightness of the bone and 
the relative proportion of the valuable cuts. When 
beeves are handled in bulk, as in Armour and Company's 
Dressed Beef Department, the average proportion of 
the different cuts is usually figured for convenience in 
pricing, but if the carcasses are sold to the retailer, the 
proportion of valuable cuts is especially important. The 
demand as reflected from the retailer is shown by the 
different price per pound in the following table, in which 
the carcasses are considered by the cwt., thereby show- 
ing the percentages of the different cuts. The same price 
is allowed for the cuts from both carcasses in order to 
show the effect of the more valuable portions on the 
profits. In practice carcasses showing as great differences 
as recorded here would sell for different prices per pound 

Page Fifty-Two 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Steer No. i Steer No. 2 

Cuts — Price per lb. Wt. cut Value Wt. cut Value 

cwt. cwt. 

Round $0.22 24 $5.28 22 $4.84 

Loin 34 18 6.12 16 5.44 

Flank 11 35 -385 4 -44 

Suet .145 35 -5075 4 -44 

Rib 27 10 2.70 8 2.16 

Chuck 12 25 3.00 27 3.24 

Plate 10 13 1-30 14 I 40 

Shank q5 3 -^85 5 .475 



Total $iq.5775 $18,575 

In other words, on each hundred pounds bought in the 
proportions listed above, steers like No. i, would be worth 
$1.00 more than steers like No. 2, even though their meat 
was of exactly similar grade. On a 650-pound carcass, 
this difference would be $6.50. 

It is very seldom that two steers 
Factors in showing the difference in proportion 

Carcass Values of cuts cited in the foregoing would 
produce meat of similar value, but 
one carcass would be of lesser quality than the other. 
During the winter iqiQ-20 it frequently happened 
that the highest quality beef sold around 23 cents a pound 
wholesale, while good quality stuff was bringing about 
18.5 cents. Two carcasses cutting up similar to those 
discussed in the foregoing paragraph would yield whole- 
sale cuts as follows: 

Steer No. i Steer No. 2 

Cut Per- Price Value Per- Price Value 

cent per lb. cent per lb. 

Round 24 $0.20 $4.80 22 $0.18 $396 

Loin 18 .46 8.28 16 .3Q ^-^4 

Flank 3.5 .08 .28 4 -oS -3^ 

Suet 3.5 .16 .^6 4 -i^ -^4 

Rib 10 .36 3.60 8 .30 2.40 

Chuck 25 .16 400 27 .12 3-^4 

Plate 13 .10 1.30 14 -OQ i-io 

Shank 3 -o? -^i 5 -o? -3^ 

Total $23.03 $18.41 

Page Fifty-Three 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

In this case two differences of importance exist between 
the two steers, percentage of valuable cuts and quality of 
cuts. The difference is expressed as $462 per hundred, 
or $27.72 on a 600-pound carcass. Retail stores will 
take the cargass of the first steer at an advanced price 
because the retailer can make more from it himself, and 
because he can dispose of it to a better class of trade. 
The next paragraph shows how these differences are 
reflected to the producer. 

The following actual cases taken 
The Relation of from animals killed in May, iqio, 
Carcass Price to by Armour and Company show how 
Hoof Price the demand for different classes of 

meat is transformed into the value of 
steers on foot. Only animals of superior breeding and 
proper finish can make the class of beef represented by 
carcass No. i, and the majority of them weigh from 1250 
pounds up, although there is- no reason why animals of 
this quality cannot be produced in the cornbelt at 950 
pounds for example, when fed from birth. The second 
class of steer comes more usually from range stock. In 
the particular instances here quoted, the steers purchased 
by our buyers to meet the 2 1 cent trade demand weighed 
1400 pounds, while the others weighed 11 10 pounds. 
The data for steers of each class at this time is shown in 
the following table: 

Steer No. i Steer No. 2 

Carcass, price $0.21 $0,185 

Carcass weight 840 lbs. 610 lbs. 

Value carcass $ 1 76 . 40 $ 1 1 2 . 85 

Credits— Hides, offal, etc 40.58 31 -41 

Killing and overhead 10.50 8.32 

Net credits 206 . 48 ^'^^ \^ 

Live weight 1400 lbs. 1 1 10 lbs. 

Possible hoof price per cwt $i4-75 $12.25 

The actual prices paid were $14.80 and $12.20. From 
long experience the Dressed Beef Department can figure 
what it can afford to pay for steers or heifers of any type 

Page Fifty- Four 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

and weight in order to produce a particular grade or class 
of beef, the costs being known in terms of averages, and 
the corrected costs being made for each lot in terms of 
the actual record of the animals purchased. The figures 
shown in the preceding table represent corrected costs 
and not averages used for preliminary estimates. Each 
morning the Armour cattle buyers are furnished with a 
statement of the costs of the beef from the animals they 
purchased the day before, as well as the actual dressing 
percentage. The principal factor involved in the judg- 
ment of the buyer is the ability to estimate the dressing 
percentage closely, and after years of experience the best 
buyers become unbelievably accurate. But more than 
an estimate of the dressing quality is needed, as the buyer 
must be able to recognize the type of animal that will 
produce the kind of beef which the Dressed Beef De- 
partment needs to fill its orders or its shortages. 



Page Fifty-Five 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
Part IX 

Market Classes of Cattle 

Cattle are placed in classes according 
How Cattle to the use to which they are put, while 

Are Classified they are graded according to their 
merit in fulfilling this purpose. The 
three major classes are beef cattle, butcher stock, and feeders 
and stackers. Beef cattle produce carcasses suitable for 
the wholesale trade, of the better grades, Nos. i or 2, 
and of standard quality. Butcher stock produces either 
an inferior grade of carcass, or else only partially produces 
marketable cuts. Feeders and stockers are animals that 
must be developed further before being slaughtered, 
feeders being ready to go into the feed lot at once, and 
stockers being too thin or too small to fatten until they 
have been further developed on cheap feeds. Each of 
these classes has a certain number of sub-classes, although 
there is no rigid distinction between them, the daily condi- 
tion of supply and demand materially affecting the classi- 
fication. For example light-necked, thin stags on one 
day's market may be slaughtered as a common grade of 
stag, while another day they may be sent back to the 
country as feeders, depending on the relative need for 
butcher stock or feeders The principal classes and sub- 
classes are indicated in the following outline: 

fBeef Steers 
I Yearling Steers 
Beef Cattle j Yearling Heifers 
I Heavy Heifers 
[Stags 



Page Fifty-Six 




Wholesale cuts of the beef carcass. 




No. 3 round. 




No. 1 round. 

Note the fuller shape of the No. 1 round and the better marbling of fat with lean. Also 
the surface of the No. 1 round is velvety and dry as compared with the darker wetter 
surface of the No. 3 round. 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Butcher Stock 



Cows 



Bulls 



Veals 



Feeders and Stockers ■ 



Kosher 

Butcher 

Cutter 

Canner 

Butcher 

Bologna 

Selected 

Medium 

Heavy 

Feeder Steers 
Yearling Steers 
Yearling Heifers 
Feeder Cows 
Feeder Bulls 
Springer Cows 
Springer Heifers 
Stocker Steers 
Stocker Heifers 

Obviously not all of the animals 
How Cattle that are placed in a particular class 

Are Graded on a given day are equally suited to 

meet the requirements of that class. 
Hence they are graded according to their ability to realize 
these requirements. The standard grades are prime, 
choice, good, medium, fair, plain, common and poor. 
Prime animals are fully finished and of improved type. 
Choice animals are practically as good in type, but are 
not so perfectly finished. Good animals are not as 
desirable as prime, either in condition or type. Medium 
steers are practically of the same quality as good, but not 
their equal in condition, while fair steers fall below 
medium in quality, type and condition. Both medium 
and fair steers are quite numerous on the market, nearly 
50 percent of steers falling in these two grades. Plain 
steers are deficient in type and quality, but carry some 
'flesh, while common steers lack flesh to a greater extent. 
Poor steers are typical of their name, inferior in practically 
all respects. 



Page Fifty-Seven 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Characteristics of The following general description 
Different Grades of each of the grades of cattle will be 
and Classes of found applicable on the average to 
cattle on the spring Chicago markets 

of IQ20: 



Beef Cattle and 
Butcher Stock 

Grade Weight Condition 

Prime Beef Steers . . . 1 500- 1 600 Ripe 

Choice Beef Steers. . 1 250-1450 Good 

Good Beef Steers . . . 1 250-1450 Good 

Medium Beef Steers . 1 200- 1 400 Average 

Fair Beef Steers 1050-1 250 Average 

Plain Beef Steers. . . . looo-i 1 50 Fair 

Common Beef Steers qoo-1050 Light 



Poor Beef Steers 800- 950 



None 



Type 
Excellent 
Excellent 
Good 
Average 
Average 
Deficient quality 

and form 
Few signs of good 

breeding 
Very inferior 



While the other classes and sub-classes vary in weights 
from those quoted above, the general statements as to 
type and condition hold good throughout. In some cases 
a few of the grades are omitted or new grades are created 
to meet special conditions in a particular class of stock. 
The following table shows the grades applied to the other 

classes : 

Class Grades 

Yearling Steers Prime, Choice, Good, Medium, Fair. Plain, 

Common. 

Yearling Heifers Extra Fancy, Fancy, Prime, Choice. Good, 

Medium, Fair, Plain, Common. 

Heavy Heifers Extra Fancy, Fancy, Prime, Choice, Good, 

Medium, Fair, Plain, Common. 

Stags Choice, Good, Medium, Plain, Common, 

Light, Thin. 
fKosher — Prime, Choice, Good. 
J Butcher— Choice, Good, Fair, Plain. 

[Cutter — Good, Fair, Plain. 

[Canner— Good, Fair, Plain, Common, Poor, 

{Butcher — Prime, Choice, Good, Medium, 
Plain. 
Bologna— Choice, Good, Medium, Plain, 
c5)mmon. Light. 
Selected — Prime, Choice. 

Medium— Choice, Good, Fair, Poor. 

Heavy—Choice, Good, Fair, Poor. 

Page Fifty-Eight 



Cows, 



Bulls 



Veals. 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Extra fancy heifers are females showing very light 
development in the essentially feminine characters; that 
is, they are trimmer of middle and smoother through the 
hooks and rump than usual, being prime in other par- 
ticulars. They usually are very well bred and extremely 
uniform. Fancy heifers are similar to extra fancv except 
that they are slightly less uniform, and usually a little 
lighter. 

Kosher cows are of good size, and well enough finished 
to make a thick forequarter for the Jewish trade. The 
quarter is cut off behind the fifth rib, and thickness of 
meat is essential in order to produce the requirements. 

Light thin stags are animals that border between 
feeders and canners. Their name is indicative of their 
type and quality. 

Prime selected veal calves weigh from 135 to 165 pounds 
and are fat. Medium weight veals run from no to 150 
pounds, the better grades being heavier, and the poor to 
fair veals average from 1 10 to 125 pounds. Heavy veals 
weight 200 to 350 pounds, the plain skim milk calves in 
this class ranging from 200 to 300 pounds. 

Feeders and stockers are graded in a 
Grades and manner similar to finished cattle, but 

Classes of the determining factors are based on 

Feeders and their ability to gain rather than their 

Stackers ability to kill. Feeder steers have the 

following classification : 

Grade Weight Breeding Type 

Fancy selected.. 1 000- 1 150 Nearly pure beef 

blood Uniform, beefy 

Choice 1000 High in beef blood Beefy 

Good Qoo One or two crosses 

pure bulls Above average 

Medium 850- qoo Mixed Below average 

Fair 800- 850 Some cold blood 

evident Rougher, plainer 

Page Fifty-Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Other classes of feeders and stockers grade as shown 
in the next table, their differences between grades approxi- 
mating that shown in the foregoing. 

Class * Grades Weights 

Yearling steers. . .Choice, good, fair, common 500-^50 

Stocker steers.... Fancy selected, choice, good, fair, 

common boo-800 

Feeding heifers . .Yearlings, choice, good, fair, range 600-800 

Feeding cows. . . .Choice, good, fair, plain 650-850 

Springer cows. . . . Good, fair 750-qoo 

Springer heifers. . Good, fair 700-800 

'Feeder bulls Choice, good, fair 800-1 100 

In the spring of 1920 feeder steers brought about 25 
to 50 cents per cwt. more in the corresponding grades than 
yearlings, due to their ability to finish faster, while stock- 
ers sold about a dollar lower than feeders. Heifers in 
corresponding grades, brought from 75 cents to a dollar 
more than cows, while feeder bulls were generally listed 
about 25 cents above feeder cows. 

In the early days of the cattle industry, feeder and 
stocker values were set by subtracting the cost of feeding 
from finished cattle, but as the demand for dressed beef 
raised the prices of unfinished animals, the margin on 
which the feeder operates no longer has any relation to 
the cost of finishing, but is determined by the value of 
the unfed animal for killing purposes. The feeder 
buyer frequently finds competition on the highest type of 
feeder cattle because a limited sale demand exists for just 
such cuts as the raw feeder produces. The fact that a 
certain percentage of this type of animals can be used 
for beef, particularly in the face of market scarcity, has 
led to a competition with feeder buyers, that has been 
difficult for them to understand. Many have interpreted 
this competition to mean that finished cattle are no 
longer desired, but this is by no means true, since the 
market can handle only a limited portion of unfinished 
cattle of this character. 

Page Sixty 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Part X 



Cattle Types 



While finished cattle are classed 
How Type Is and graded on the market as indicated 
Determined in the foregoing paragraphs, there are 

distinct differences in type between 
choice feeders and choice killing steers. The factors that 
determine whether an animal shall be classed as a beef 
steer and graded choice include high dressing percent, 
high proportion of valuable cuts, ability to produce a 
No. I carcass and a size suitable to produce retail cuts 
most readily marketable. The price paid for live animals 
is based on these points entirely. On the other hand when 
a feeder buys a steer he is looking for the points that will 
indicate profitable utilization of his feed. A steer of this 
sort has a large rugged frame, a strong chest and constitu- 
tion, enough depth to indicate a strong feeding capacity, 
and a loose, mellow, sappy hide that provides a vigorous 
circulation and a high degree of health. It will be noted 
that none of the points making the animal profitable as a 
feeder have any relation to the efficiency with which the 
steer cuts out, hence the type suitable both to the trade 
and the feeder is a compromise. This is the type which 
has come to recognition in the big fat stock shows of 
England and America, and in its ultimate development 
provides the show yard champions. The usual champion 
steer is fed to a flesh unprofitable to the feeder from a 
market standpoint, since the final gains of such an animal 
are very costly and there is ordinarily too much fat to 
permit the animal to be cut up profitably by the butcher. 
It therefore happens that many times steers gaining 
high honors in a show are considered less valuable by 
practical feeders and sell for less on the beef markets than 
animals of lower show rank. 

Page Sixty-One 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Nevertheless in the long run this 
Characteristics compromise type of steer (see page 41 ) 
of the Standard is the one that gives best returns at all 
Types of Beef stages of his development. Such an 
Steer animal as viewed from the side should 

be straight in top and underline, deep, 
low-set, stylish in carriage, symmetrical in all parts, and 
possessed of a smooth, thick, meaty appearance. From 
the rear he should be wide throughout and even; smooth 
through the shoulders, hook points and rump; and 
deep and thick in thigh, lower round and twist. From 
the front he should show a pronounced breadth from 
shoulder top down through the breast, his neck and 
shoulder vein should be plump with fat, his head short, 
broad and well-dished, and his legs set well apart. Such 
a steer will carry thick cuts in the valuable parts and be 
proportionate between his carcass and the internal organs 
that provide his meat making machinery. He should be 
thick, smooth and mellow to the touch in all parts of his 
body, and as refined in bone, skin and hair as possible 
without reducing his ruggedness or vigor. Since beef 
cattle sell by the pound a big steer at a given age is always 
preferable to a smaller one of the same general merit. 

The fat cattle buyer must not only 
Dressing determine what kind of carcass the 

Percent animal he buys will produce, but he 

must also determine what the steer 
will yield, in terms of carcass to live weight. This is 
known as the dressing percentage and depends on the 
condition, the freedom from paunchiness, the type and 
the quality. Fat steers always outdress animals of less 
finish, the degree of their condition being judged in 
accurate detail by the filling of the tongue root, brisket, 
shoulder vein, fiank and twist, in addition to the general 
covering over the body. The fill of the digestive organs 
with feed and water is as important as the condition. 
In shipping, steers of 1200 pound weight frequently 

Page Sixty-Two 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

shrink 40 to 60 pounds, due to the emptying of the diges- 
tive tract, which is 3 to 5 percent of the entire weight 
of the animal. A difference in estimate of i percent 
dress on a 1200 pound steer selling at 15 cents a pound 
is $1.80, and many mistakes of that sort reduce to zero 
the usefulness of a buyer. The broad thick type of steer 
will outdress the steer of wedge-shaped dairy type even 
when condition and fill are the same, by 3 to 5 percent, 
while quality in hide, head and bone may affect the 
dressing ratio by i to 2 percent. 

The average run of steers killed by Armour and Com- 
pany dress, about 53 percent, good to choice ranging 
from 56 to ^q, and steers of extra good show type, going 
from 5Q to 63. The champion steer at the 1920 Fort 
Worth show was killed by Armour and Company and 
dressed 67.48 percent. The world's record is on a 
spayed heifer killed at the Smithfield Fat Stock Show in 
London, that made 76.75 percent. Fat cows dress about 
56 per cent, and canners from 35 to 43 percent. 



Page Sixty-Three 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



Part XI 

Marketing Cattle 

Much of the profit that may have 
Preparations for been acquired during the feeding 
Shipping operation may be lost when the 

animals are sent to market. Faulty 
shipping methods may cause such a great difference in 
the loading weight of the steer at home and its selling 
weight at the market that the feeder may actually make 
or break on this margin. This shrink" is caused by the 
failure of the animal to eat and drink the normal amount, 
and by scouring. Long hauls, rough handling, improper 
feeding, extreme weather, exhaustion and numerous minor 
factors affect the amount of shrink and nothing will 
eliminate it entirely. It averages about 4.0 percent of 
the animal's weight. Grass, silage and pulp- fed cattle 
shrink more than grain fed, while such grades as canner 
cows shrink more proportionately than finished stock. If 
about two days before shipping a less washy ration is 
substituted for the regular ration, the shrink may not 
be so great, although if the change is too sudden the 
animal may be upset. On the other hand, too dry a 
ration works a severe detriment to the selling condition 
of the cattle. To withhold water before shipping and to 
feed salt is cruel and deceives no one except the shipper 
himself. A normal fill is always accepted but both 
packer buyers and feeder buyers can easily recognize 
animals in abnormal condition. 

^- . . The following suggestions issued by 

^nipping ^-j^g National Livestock Exchange 

Counsel should prove helpful : 

Always route your shipment through to destination 
and designate each road handling it. 

Page Sixty-Four. - 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Always carefully insert the number and kind of each 
species of stock loaded. 

Always see that car order information is inserted when 
the car furnished differs from the car ordered. 

Always insert the words "ordinary live stock" in the 
description of stock except that "chiefly valuable for 
breeding, racing, show purposes or other special uses." 

Always insert in the proper space the rate which you 
understand is to be applied. If the rate and route con- 
flict it is the agent's duty to so inform you. 

Always give specific instructions as to the place of 
feeding enroute, indicating the kind and quantity of feed 
to be furnished. 

Always release your shipment to the 36-hour limit 
unless, in your opinion, the 28-hour limit should be 
observed. 

Always declare the full value of other than "ordinary 
live stock," otherwise you cannot recover more than the 
declared value in case of loss. 

Never accept a contract where the carrier's agent seeks 
to limit the liability of the carrier. 

Never declare the value of "ordinary live stock." The 
agent cannot lawfully require this of you. 

Never pay a rate on "ordinary live stock" dependent 
upon the declared value. If it has been paid file a claim 
to recover the overcharge. 

Never let the railroad agent route your shipment 
against your own preference. The law gives this right 
to you exclusively. 

Never send an attendant unless he is an experienced 
livestock man. The responsibilities are too great to 
risk amateurs. 

Page Sixty-Five 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

Never pay loading or unloading charges at public 
markets nor at intermediate feeding stations, except when 
you order the stock fed there. The law imposes upon the 
carrier the duty of performing this service. 

Always order your car right and in ample time. 

Always protect your rights in cases where cars are 
substituted. 

Always bed your car properly. 

Always mark your livestock legibly for identification. 

Always partition different kinds of livestock and tie 
dangerous animals. 

Always check your railroad billing weight against sale 
weights to avoid overpayment. 

Always pay no more nor no less than the full lawful 
charge. 

The center of consumption of beef 
Handling Cattle in the United States averages approxi- 
at the Market mately iioo miles distant from the 
center of production. As a result of 
this, a complex but very efficient marketing system has 
been developed. Cattle shipped to central markets are 
handled by the trunk railroad, the terminal railroad at 
the market, the stock yards company and the commission 
firm before they are manufactured into meat and other 
products, while the meat passes through the wholesale 
markets, either directly into the hands of the retailer, 
or through the intermediate hands of the jobber. Yet, 
so efficiently is this done in most cases that the retailer 
can purchase meat more cheaply that has gone through 
all of these hands and has traveled all of these miles, than 
he can butcher the animal and sell the meat therefrom 
himself. Furthermore, by so doing he is insured against 
disease and can have a greater variety of meats to suit 
the public taste. The terminal railroad receives the cars 

Page Sixty-Six 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

from the main line, spots them at the chutes for loading 
and unloading, returns them to the transfer tracks and 
receives its return by payment of so much per car. The 
stock yards company receives the cattle from the railroad 
at the unloading chute, counts them, and delivers them 
to the commission firm at their pens. This company does 
all the weighing, counts the shipments in the cars and 
records the entire transaction from unloading to selling. 
For this, it receives yardage fee. It also furnishes the 
feed to the shipper for which he must pay. The com- 
mission firm acts as the selling agent to the shipper. It 
rents blocks of pens from the yard company and engages 
in selling or buying the cattle of the shipper. In order 
to do this, the commission men must know accurately, 
both cattle and the market, and follow its changes from 
day to day. Practically no shippers are frequent enough 
visitors to the market to be able to place as accurate a 
value on their property as the commission salesman. The 
commission firm is the final link in the establishment of a 
cash market since it provides credit for each individual 
shipper, who is probably unknown to the stockyards 
company and prepares for him the bill of sale, deducts 
charges and prepares the check for the shipper often 
before he has received his own money from the buyer. 

Cattle bought by Armour and Com- 
Slaughtering pany for slaughter are driven across 
Cattle to their holding pens. From here they 

are driven up a long chute or incline 
to the killing beds on the top floor of the plant. Here 
they pass into a long line of knocking pens, two to each 
pen, and are there dispatched with a heavy blow of the 
sledge. They are then hoisted by the hind legs for 
sticking, the blood being caught in buckets for use in 
further manufacture of byproducts, feed and fertilizer. 
The heads are skinned out, washed and prepared for the 
Government inspector. The carcass of each individual 
animal holds its place in rotation throughout the entire 

Page Sixty-Seven 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

operation, all parts cut from it being kept in the same 
order until the Government inspector has finally passed 
it. Armour and Company is very proud of the rigid and 
efficient inspecting force from the Bureau of Animal 
Industry which supervises the killing and meat prepara- 
tion in its plants. After the heads have been removed 
the cattle are moved out from the sticking rail and are 
laid down on the floor with the feet in the air. The fore 
and hind legs are skinned out and unjointed at the knee 
and hock. The legs are sent down another chute to be 
made into combs, knife handles and glue. The hide is 
then opened down the center of the belly and skinned off 
the sides by a set of very expert workmen who with one 
stroke turn back the hide from the belly to the floor. The 
cattle are then hooked through the hocks and partially 
raised from the floor, the middles opened, the entrails 
removed, placed in a sterilized moving pan and inspected. 
While this is going on other men skin out the rump and 
pull the hide free from the round. Extreme care is needed 
in working here as the hide from the rump makes the very 
best grade of leather, and any cuts cause serious loss. The 
tails are skinned out and started on the road to the soup 
factory. The carcass is then raised completely, the hide 
removed from the back and "hide droppers" follow to 
remove the skin entirely from the legs and shoulders. 
The carcass is now split through the center of the back 
bone from tail to neck by means of long cleavers and so 
accurate is the work that jagged cuts and bone splinters 
are very rare. The split carcass passes on a moving 
trolley, is given a thorough scrubbing with warm water 
and brushes, wiped' dry and sent white and clean to the 
last Government inspector. If no disease has been found 
in any part of the animal it is stamped, "U. S. Inspected 
and Passed," and sent to the coolers. If infection is 
found the carcass is switched onto the Government rail 
and a thorough examination made. Condemned meat 
is so stamped and kept under Government lock until 

Page Sixty-Eight 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

put in the tank for inedible grease and other by-products. 
U. S. inspected meat is always safe meat. The Chicago 
packing plant of Armour and Company can handle i So 
cattle at a time, the entire operation from knocking to 
final inspection taking about an hour. The beef hangs 
in a temperature of about 34 degrees Fahrenheit for at 
least 48 hours and is then quartered or cut up otherwise, 
loaded into the refrigerator car and sent to the branch 
house for sale to the retailer. Fresh beef is perishable 
and its handling demands a continuous attention to tem- 
perature and a maximum of speed in distribution. 

When cattle killing first became a 
Byproducts centralized business there were only 

two standard products from the animal 
marketed, the beef and the hide. Due to the utilization 
of the byproducts in the modern packing plant, both 
the dressed meat and the hide bring less than the animal 
cost on foot, enabling the packer to shave to the lowest 
degree, 'the margin between buying and selling price on 
the cattle he buys and their products. A representative 
condition on falling markets is shown in the following 
steer, purchased by Armour and Company in May, iqio: 

Purchase price, 1,400 pound steer $207 .20 

Selling price (wholesale) 840 pound carcass .... $ 1 76 . 40 

Selling price, hide 28 . 10 

Killing and overhead costs 10 . 50 

Credits for raw byproducts 1 2 . 48 

Loss on steer -7^ 

Total $2 1 7 . 70 $2 1 7 . 70 

If it were not for the byproducts the loss on this steer 
would have been $13.20. Armour and Company do not 
always make a profit per head on their cattle. In iqi/ 
the profit was $1.35 per steer while in iqiS and iqiq an 
actual loss per animal was sustained. 

The possibility of converting these materials which 
formerly were waste products is based entirely on volume. 

Page Sixty-Nine 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 

No small packing plant can afford to organize factories 
for the manufacture of these materials, but must put in 
the waste pile everything except what can be most easily 
assembled. The sources of the byproducts are the hide, 
the blood, the \yaste meat, the viscera, the glands and the 
bones. From the hair and hide come all kinds of leather, 
brushes, binder for plaster, felt, padding, hair for uphol- 
stering and mattresses and glue. From the sinews, fats 
and blood come bloodmeal, filler for leather, ammoniate 
for fertilizer, meat meal, lubricating oils, oleomargarine, 
soap, glue, case hardening bone, gelatine, isinglass and 
stearine. From the glands and the viscera come gold- 
beaters' skins, perfume bottle caps, tennis strings, clock 
cords, drum snares, violin strings, surgical ligatures and 
pharmaceuticals (such as extract of thyroid, pituitary 
liquid, pineal substance, suprarenals, pancreatin, adrena- 
lin, pepsin, rennet, thrombo-plastin, etc.) From the 
bones come combs, buttons, hairpins, umbrella handles, 
napkin rings, tobacco boxes, buckles, crochet needles, 
knife handles, dice, chessmen, electrical bushings, washers, 
artificial teeth, bone rings for nursing bottles, glue, case 
hardening bone, gelatine, fertilizers, oils, grease, soap and 
red bone marrow. From the hoofs and horns come 
various manufactured articles of horn, such as inkwells, 
combs, hair-brush backs, etc., and neatsfoot oil. In the 
larger manufacturing plants not a single element of what 
was formerly called "packers' waste" is discarded as of 
no value. 



Page Seventy 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



References 



BOOKS ON BEEF CATTLE 
'Western Live Stock Management," 

E. L. Potter (MacMillan & Company). 
'Types and Classes of Live Stock," 

H. W. Vaughan (R. S. Adams & Company). 
"Live Stock Judging and Selection," 

R. S. Curtis (Lea & Febiger). 
'Judging Live Stock," 

John A. Craig (Kenyon Printing & Mfg. Co.,) _ 
'Principles and Practice of Judging Live Stock," 

Carl W. Gay (MacMillan & Company). 
"Cattle Breeds and Management," , 

(Vinton &Z Company, London). 
"Types and Breeds of Farm Animals," 

C. S. Plumb (Ginn & Company). 
"The Breeds of Live Stock," 

C. W. Gay (MacMillan & Company). 
"Shorthorn Cattle," 

A. H. Sanders (Breeders* Gazette). 
"The Story of the Here fords," 

A. H. Sanders (Breeders' Gazette). 
"History of Shorthorn Cattle," 

MacDonald &z Sinclair (Vinton 62 Company, London). 
"Fifty Years With the Shorthorns," 

Robert Bruce (Vinton & Company, London). 
"History of Hereford Cattle," 

MacDonald &Z Sinclair (Vinton & Company, London). 
"History of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle," 

MacDonald & Sinclair (Vinton & Company, London). 
"Aberdeen- Angus Cattle," 

A. L. Pulling (Vinton 6z Company, London). 
"Cattle, Breeds and Origin," 

David Roberts (Dr. David Roberts, Waukesha, Wis.) 

BOOKS ON FEEDS 

"Feeds and Feeding," 

Henry &Z Morrison (The Henry-Morrison Co., Madison, Wis.) 
"Productive Feeding of Farm Animals," 

F. W. Woll (Lippincott). 
"The Feeding of Animals," 

W. H. Jordan (MacMillan & Company). 
"First Principles of Feeding Farm Animals," 

C. W. Burkett (Orange Judd Company). 

Page Seventy-one 



PROGRESSIVE BEEF C A T T L E R A I S I N G 

"Profitable Stock Feeding," 

H. R. Smith (Howard R. Smith, Union Stock Yards, Chicago). 
"The Scientific Feeding of Animals," 

O. Kellner (The MacMillan Company, London). 

BOOKS ON BREEDING 
"The Principles#of Stock Breeding," 

J as. Wilson (Vinton 6^ Company, London). 
"The Breeding of Animals," 

F. B. Mumford (MacMillan fij Company). 
"Breeding Farm Animals," 

F. R. Marshall (Breeders' Gazette). 
"The Breeding of Farm Animals," 

M. W. Harper (Orange Judd Company). 
"Inbreeding and Outbreeding," 

East &z Jones (Lippincott). 
"Heredity and Eugenics," 

W. E. Castle (Harvard University Press). 

BOOKS ON DISEASES 
"Diseases of Cattle," 

United States Department of Agriculture. 
"Common Diseases of Farm Animals," 

R. A. Craig (Lippincott). 
"Principles of Veterinary Science," 
F. B. Hadley (Saunders). 

Publications of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
available for free distribution by the Department: 

"Lespedeza or Japan Clover," Farmer's Bulletin No. 441. 

'Red Clover," Farmer's Bulletin No. 455. 

'Market Hay," Farmer's Bulletin No. 508. 

'Vetches," Farmers' Bulletin No. 515. 

"Crimson Clover," Farmers' Bulletin Nos. 550, 579 and O46. 

'Making and Feeding of Silage," Farmers' Bulletin No. 578. 

'Beef Production in the South," Farmer's Bulletin No. 580. 

'Economical Cattle Feeding," Farmer's Bulletin No. 588. 

'Sudan Grass," Farrhers' Bulletin No. 605. 

'Breeds of Beef Cattle," Farmers' Bulletin No. 612. 

'Cottonseed Meal for Feeding," Farmers' Bulletin No. 655. 

'Field Peas," Farmers' Bulletin No. 6qo. 

'Stock Losses from Poisonous Plants," Farmers' Bulletin No. 720. 

'Natal Grass," Farmers' Bulletin No. 726. 

'Contagious Abortion," Farmers" Bulletin No. 7Q0. 

'Production of Baby Beef," Farmers" Bulletin No. 811. 

"Home-made Silos," Farmers" Bulletin No. 855. 

'Dehorning and Castration," Farmers' Bulletin No. 949. 

'Growing Beef on the Farm," Farmers" Bulletin No. 1073. 

Page Seventy-two 







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